Tokyo Ghoul: Hikari
by TwoPathsinaWood
Summary: It's been six months since the CCG raided Aogori Tree's headquarters in the 13th ward. Everyone at Anteiku has returned to their normal lives, but Kaneki is still missing. Everything would go as canon, except now there is a girl from the United States digging into places she shouldn't, desperate to find Ken. Who is she and what is she running from?
1. Chapter 1: The Game Begins

**Madness, as you know, is a lot like gravity. All it takes is a little push. -the Joker**

Chapter 1: The Game Begins

"Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm-" the child's lilting voice paused on the last word, a giggle garbling whatever she had to say. It most definitely was not Suzy, the name written on her family register. Actually, whatever the girl had said sounded distinctly English, rank one Akira Mado decided rather grimly. That certainly portended something awful if ghouls from outside Japan were involving themselves with Tokyo affairs.

While possible, Akira was loathe to believe that this was just one child running amuck in the city. Why would someone so young come alone from another country? It was illogical. The parents could not be far away from their precious little ghoul.

Though it begged the question of how the others had slipped through the RC scanner gates at the Tokyo Airport when this one did not. No matter. They would come searching for her when she did not return. Everything would be resolved quickly and efficiently- at least, that was the hope.

With Juuzou, Shinohara, and Amon by her side, Akira knew that this creature would be culled; it was the potential of others that made her wary.

She could see the same thought creeping through Amon's mind as his eyes darted upwards, towards the rooftops, scanning for any signs of overhead pursuit.

Even Shinohara glanced upwards a few times, calm and calculating. It was Juuzou that kept his eyes on the target, either completely unaware or completely indifferent to the possibility of an attack by other ghouls. That was precisely why Akira had placed both men between herself and the unpredictable boy. She didn't trust him anymore than she trusted a tamed wolf. Even domesticated, wolves were liable to bite, especially if someone interfered with their hunt.

The little girl turned a corner, whipping around it so fast that she was just a blur of white- there and then gone. A grin wended its way through Akira's mind as Shinohara motioned for everyone to pause. The girl had turned into a dead end; the hunters had finally cornered their quarry.

Wrong way little dove.

Shinohara made a motion with his hand, Amon and then Akira responding with their own gestures as they planned their maneuvers. There was obvious irritation in Akira's eyes as the youngest member of their team neglected to give any contribution of his own. He merely watched with disinterest, red eyes narrowed with boredom.

Nevertheless, Akira assured herself, even Juuzou knew better than to just run head on into the alley. Surely Shinohara had taught him that predators had to observe their prey before they pounced. Even mice had teeth and claws.

It was unsurprising when Shinohara sidled around the corner first, hands open and palms facing out in false peace. Having the most experience, he had agreed to confront the girl, read her rights, and discern the type and ranking of her kagune- if she could manifest it. Akira knew this wouldn't take long. From what she'd seen so far, the little girl was likely too young to produce her kagune. They'd have her in custody in no time.

But the plan went to Hell in a hand basket as soon as Shinohara abandoned his young charge. It hadn't been two seconds since Shinohara had rounded the corner when Juuzou tried to make his getaway. It was obvious from the twitch of Amon's arm that he had considered grabbing the insolent child and insisting that he stay put. Amon must have thought better of it because he scowled and made a motion for Akira to follow.

Her heart stuttered for a moment as she rounded the corner and sighted the child. The little thing was crouched underneath a rusty fire escape, scraping a rock across the concrete. Another image superimposed itself over the girl, a little black haired waif with dark eyes and a tattered nightgown.

Juuzou's boots crunched the earth's bones a bit testily, prompting Shinohara to start and the child to slowly look up. Her curious green eye dissolved the scene, peering through long, white tresses. They spilled over her shoulders, scraping the dirty ground as she tilted her head innocuously.

The child's attention seemed to narrow in on Akira and Amon. If the setting couldn't get any worse, it did when the girl's pink lips parted in a dark and eerie rendition of "Jack and Jill". Akira cringed, wishing the kid would just shut up already. What a disturbingly weird thing she was.

Yeesh. The little foreigner would have gotten along well with Juuzou.

Amon's face was blanker than a sheet of paper, but Akira could practically feel the nervousness radiating from him. His fingers twitched on the handle of his suitcase, rubbing the button that would release his quinque.

Juuzou emitted a loud groan, making the already-tense investigators tense even worse.

Why was he so impatient? Akira rolled her eyes. Did he not realize that they wouldn't even get to kill the ghoul? If she was a ghoul. The whites of her eyes were still visible. Her humanity had yet to be completely disproven.

The child gave them all a sly grin and sang rather sweetly, "~I won the race, soooo what's my prize~?"

There was movement to Akira's left and a small gasp escaped from the little girl's lips. Red, so much red, dripped from her arm to the ground. For an instant, Akira considered running to her aid, remembering yet again another little girl.

But then a slow smile broke across the girl's face as she dissolved into a fit of giggles. "~Thank you! It's lovely!~"

She wrenched the knife from her arm, not showing an ounce of discomfort. In fact, she completely ignored the dark liquid, simply brandishing the knife like it was her shiny new toy.

Shinohara put an arm in front of Juuzou, staying him from another attack. They were all thinking the same thing. Her accent was definitely not from Japan; they could be up to their necks in lawsuits if they didn't do this the right way. Even if she was clearly a ghoul- Akira had no doubts now- and therefore completely without rights.

Shinohara finally began his spiel, absolving them of any legal ramifications as he said, "We are with the CCG. You are under the suspicion of being a ghoul. Submit to questioning-"

As if she hadn't heard him speak, the girl tilted her head back towards the dark sky. Akira did the same, noticing a tinge of pink slowly painting the edges. Dawn was coming. They were definitely going to be tired tomorrow.

"I have to be home soon," the child stated thoughtfully. With a powerful kick, she grabbed onto the fire escape, hauling herself up and over without any thought to her injury.

Akira and Amon whipped their quinques out simultaneously, but the child had already leapt to the top of the building, far out of reach. From her perch she called quite fearlessly, "~I'll come back and play later, 'kay?~"

Juuzou ducked under his superior's outstretched hand, ready to pursue, ready to draw the game out a little longer.

"Finally, someone I can have _fun_ with," he giggled breathlessly, giving Akira another chill.

But the weight of Shinohara's hand on his shoulder gave him pause- just enough for the girl to escape. Disappointment emanated from the young man in waves.

Akira could see the look Amon was giving Shinohara and Juuzou. Relief that he wasn't the one holding the kid back. Everyone knew what that boy was capable of. Shinohara was the only one who didn't really seem to care.

Curiosity drew the Akira further into the alley to inspect whatever the child had drawn in the dirt. Akira knew it could help with this case, so she went closer, mulling things over in her head. "We'll have to report that the ghoul is almost certainly American. It will change the way we handle the case, especially if she moves into another ward."

Shinohara nodded sagely, though the motion was wasted as Akira was facing away from him, crouched under the fire escape. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand the drawing. It looked like nonsense…

"Now is not the time to start a war with America over just one little girl," Amon added his piece, unaware that Akira had stiffened as the girl's drawing finally became clear.

She stood up suddenly, turning to face the other investigators with a coldness that looked all too familiar on her. She wore it like a cloak, and they thought nothing more of it.

Shinohara jumped in, trying to disperse the oppressive mood and somehow making it far worse. "She'll be classified as a C~ for now- pretty much harmless; she probably doesn't have a kagune. It won't be too hard to trace her. She is just one child."

Juuzou, blithely unaware of the group's darkening mood, seemed to be intrigued by this, which was a first. "Why didn't she have a kagune if she is a ghoul? I can still kill her, right?"

Shinohara placed his hand on Juuzou's shoulder as they walked away from the alley, apparently finding comfort in the action. His voice was warm as he educated his mentee. "Young ghouls usually can't produce their kagune, though it is odd that she did not have a kakugan."

"That's the black thing in their eyes!" Juuzou was especially excited that he remembered this, but was obviously just as confused as his mentor. "But why didn't she have that?"

The question seemed to be difficult for Shinohara to answer. His brow furrowed as he ran through explanations. "Well, it is practically impossible for a ghoul to control their kakugan during high-stress situations… Unless she was simply unfazed… But she was injured…"

Akira finally piped in, seeming to come from her darkened thoughts and interrupting Shinohara's confused mumblings. She had thought the situation through as well. The answer was not that she was human. No human that small could ever leap as high as that child did. So it must be that...

"She has excellent control over her kakugan. Different ghouls have different strengths. Hearing, healing, smell; hers is obviously control."

Akira paused and then decided not to go into why Juuzou wouldn't be allowed to kill the ghoul. That would be for another time.

"Oh," Juuzou nodded. "As long as I can kill her. Can we go to bed now? I'm sleepy."

Shinohara laughed, a deep belly one that split his mouth into a genuine smile, "We've still got a lot of work to do before that."

Amon and Akira both sighed in agreement. That they did.

~...*...~

About a hundred feet up, on the rooftop of an apartment complex, Light was bursting with curiosity. She wanted to climb back down and slice at them with her new weapon until they told her exactly what she wanted to know.

What would they name her? Everyone knew that the ghoul hunters always had a name for wanted ghouls. It was on every TV show back in the States- cool, superhero-esque names. The Black Lightning. Silver Bear. Red Death. She liked Red Death best, but that was already taken.

Whatever the case, she needed to get off the streets and get home because after they named her, they would plaster an inept rendition of her face everywhere, reward tagged at the bottom as an afterthought. She wouldn't be worth much, but it might be enough for someone. And she didn't come all this way just to get caught.

She leapt across her fourth and then fifth rooftop of the morning, wide-eyed, watching, finally finding the perfect place to descend. Speed was now the name of the game. If she wasn't quick enough, she'd be caught and then it would be game over. This was different than the games she used to play; if she lost, she couldn't just restart, try again. Not anymore. Dying was an annoyingly permanent state of being.

Quietly, her shadow darted from the mouth of an alley onto a dark and vacant street. Not in her favor. Not that any of this was. The location of the airport had been working against her from the very start.

The only airport in Tokyo was in the eleventh ward, which was, quite unfortunately, also the only ward in Tokyo under a level four travel warning. According to the U.S. government, she was taking her life into her own hands just by flying into Japan. But those had been expected obstacles, ones she and her friends had planned for.

They hadn't planned for the hunters.

Now the plan was well and truly derailed. Light was going to have to improvise and she knew where that would lead. For now, she would do her best not to think about it. Instead, she tried to work out why the ghoul hunters had been so close at hand in the first place. Ever since the huge catastrophe with that big ghoul organization, she and her friends had figured both hunters and ghouls would be keen to avoid the ward. Had it been planned, a warning sent by the Academy itself?

No. It was too soon for that.

But, then why?

"How many idiot ghouls actually try to fly into Japan anyways?" she wondered aloud as she crept through the shadows, whispered voice barely a vapor in the otherwise still dawn.

A plan began to slowly form in Light's mind the further she progressed down the street. It was as flawed as it was stupid. Her chances of failure were at least ninety percent, and that may have just been her being optimistic. But what was life without a little risk?

Clearly someone else's.

Another block and she stood across from a set of modest, ramshackle apartments. It was clear by the way she paused and evaluated each shoddy stoop that she was at least being methodical about her choice.

"Eeny meenie miny mo," she sang under her breath. "Catch a ghoulie by her toe, don't be s'prised if she bites, eenie meenie miny… mo!"

She beamed, quite pleased with her decision. It couldn't have been more perfect. A blue bicycle- training wheels still attached- was chained to the iron railing of the steps right beside a much larger pink version. A faded action figure and a toy phone were left discarded on the door's stoop, dutifully awaiting the return of their owner.

Pain lanced up her uninjured arm as she used her new knife to carve a matching wound. She cleaned it off on the bottom of her shirt before stowing it away in her backpack.

She focused on the pain, the fire coursing through both her arms. Salty tears poured down her face almost at once, as if a pipe had finally burst from the pressure placed on it. She slunk towards the door, fingering the rusty bike chains as she ascended the steps. Yes, this was the right one.

~...*...~

Not thirty minutes later, an older woman, Mrs. Watanabe, was rushing around her small kitchen, cleaning all sorts of instruments as she waited anxiously for the little girl to come out of the restroom. Never mind the fact that she hadn't used a single one of them to tend the child's wounds.

When the girl- Suzi, she thought she had said- came out of the restroom, Mrs. Watanabe felt marginally better. Cleaned up, the injuries did not look nearly as severe. In fact, the gauze wasn't even visible beneath the long white sleeves of the shirt the child had been given. One would hardly assume she had ever been injured at all.

The silence between the two as Light shifted nervously from one foot to another. She knew it was best to break the silence with a shy question, and not complain about the strong scent of rubbing alcohol or the lack of femininity in her clothes. How ashamed her mother would be of her, but not as ashamed as she would be if Light botched her mission. Years of training down the drain for nothing but pride.

"Are you sure that I can have this?" her voice was quiet, almost unintelligible under her thick American accent, but Light knew that Mrs. Watanabe wouldn't ask her to repeat her question. The woman was too frightened of overwhelming her. So, Light deliberately tugged at her shirt, making it appear obvious that she was uncomfortable taking someone else's clothes.

The older woman merely gave a wobbly, reassuring smile and nodded. "It was given to my family after a CCG raid. My boy never had the chance to… Well… I… I mean… I don't have any use for them anymore."

The fabric of the shirt suddenly felt impossibly scratchy and stiff on Light's skin as the weight of the aging woman's words sank in. These were the clothes of the dead, possibly ripped from some child's corpse simply because he had one more organ than everyone else. The ghoul hunters' had given this child's clothes away as if they actually had any authority to do so. Disgust and anger roiled in her blood, but she was a lady. Ladies did not show disgust or anger in the presence of others.

"Will you, um, stay and have some breakfast? I went to an American cooking class once, long ago. They taught us to make pancakes. I think I can find the recipe and, and I can boil some eggs," she offered offhandedly.

It was meant to seem casual, not a big deal, but Light could sense the eagerness rolling off the woman in waves. A part of her wanted to reject the offer purely because of that. She would relish the woman's poor attempt at hiding her disappointment. Unfortunately, she didn't give in to her fleeting desire. A cursory glance outside told Light that the sun was still on its way over the horizon, giving her the perfect excuse to give in to a second, hidden desire.

Light told herself she couldn't leave because it was too early to be caught on the streets. It was not because this woman reminded her of a distant mother, one that had come to her only in dreams and visions. She was not staying so she could play house.

Nevertheless, her acquiescing nod almost felt like a sin, as did settling down in one of the rickety kitchen chairs. This guilt was forgotten by the redirecting of her attention. Her focus was immediately drawn to the few drops of blood staining the yellowing laminate, the last bit of evidence she had ever been wounded- all but forgotten by the woman who had recommenced her rushing about.

At least Light had been right. Her plan had gone even better than expected. The old fool had taken one look at her pitiful appearance and ushered her inside without so much as a peep. How the crone had survived this long in the most dangerous ward of Tokyo was beyond Light's comprehension. Obviously, she thought ruefully, by sheer dumb luck. Her offspring, being as dimwitted as their mother, couldn't claim the same. They'd gone and gotten themselves killed early on.

However it had happened, Light was just fortunate that immeasurable loss tended to make human mothers even more kindhearted and senseless than they already were. Of course, it could have gone the other way. The old fool could have still had one of her children, or her husband, and then- Light stopped herself mid-thought.

There was no room for could haves, would haves, should haves. Such thinking would get her nowhere fast.

Metal clattering against linoleum nearly startled Light out of her chair and into a fighting stance. But it was just a pan that had fallen from the shelf over the fridge. After picking up the pan, Mrs. Watanabe made a remark about her clumsiness and opened the fridge slightly, retrieving a carton of milk. Though Light only caught a glimpse of the fridge's contents, an odd feeling suddenly fluttered in her intuition.

Pride cometh before the fall. She shouldn't be applauding herself so quickly. This was enemy territory and vigilance was key. Mrs. Watanabe may very well not be as kindhearted as she first appeared.

All too soon, the thick smell of overcooked meat and grease filled the air. It made Light feel dizzy, woozy even. Her stomach turned over queasily as the woman plopped a plate filled with food directly in front of her.

She couldn't recall ever seeing this much human food on one plate. Bacon, boiled eggs, pancakes, and fruit. She knew all of the names, but had only ever eaten the items a few times. Surely she wasn't expected to eat all of this.

But Mrs. Watanabe's plate was just as full, and the woman wasted no time digging into her meal. "Go on, eat," was her encouragement between hearty bites. Light's intuition had to be wrong; no ghoul ever ate human food like that- not even the most skilled ones.

Light's continued hesitance seemed to spark a knowing look in the old woman's eyes. Mrs. Watanabe was definitely suspicious of her now. Or perhaps that was worry. Worry that Light wouldn't like it or that she was sick. Either way, she needed to silence that emotion.

Mechanically, Light took up a thick strip of bacon and popped it into her mouth first. She tried not to think of the texture, like a piece of playdough set to dry for ten hours too long, or the taste, like burnt hair and molten pennies. She swallowed then chewed, swallowed then chewed. Just like Mother had taught her.

The pancakes were next, carefully pieced apart. The viscous syrup they were drenched in was like battery acid and the dough like ripping her teeth into a sponge. Her gag reflex almost went through on that one, but she kept it down. The consequences would be fatal if she failed. For Mrs. Watanabe that was.

The worst was the egg, slick like silicone on the outside and drier than sand on the inside. It was nearly impossible to swallow, so she used water to choke it down faster.

"Wow, you have quite the appetite for such a young girl!" the woman was obviously impressed.

Light nodded, shy smile painted on her face even as her stomach gurgled and twisted. She was going to keep it down. She had to.

After a moment of chewing, the woman added, "Your parents are probably missing you. What happened? Do you need to go to the police?"

Questions. Always questions. Adults were always meddling, prying. They never quite understood her because they never grew up like this.

She guessed she had suffered through that meal for nothing. Her time at playing house had already come to a very destitute end. Now how would she stop the game?

Inspiration came to Light in an instant. Tears were the solution. She was thankful that Mother had taught her to cry on command. The tears would stop the woman's incessant questions. They came readily, slipping down her face like twin streams. Her crying was quiet, delicate, as if there was a time when she had to cry without being heard.

As expected, Mrs. Watanabe dropped her fork, quickly ushering to Light's side. "Oh, sweetheart. It's alright. Nobody's going to hurt you."

Light was far too old to be held, but Mrs. Watanabe picked her up like she was weightless. Light clung to her big neck with all she had, savoring the feeling of unconditional love for as long as she possibly could. But everything ended and this did too. The stupid woman had played right into Light's hand.

There wasn't even a struggle. Just a gasp and glassy, wide-eyes that rolled all the way back. The old fool's grip went slack and Light landed on her backside, followed by the woman herself.

"Finally," she groaned as she picked herself up off the floor. She barely glanced at the crumpled body as she stepped over it and began rifling through the drawers. A low groan echoed a few moments later, telling her that, somehow, someway, Mrs. Watanabe was already waking up. She guessed her intuition may have been right, but then again the woman would have already tried to kill her if she were a ghoul. Why would she pretend to pass out?

"I'll be out of your hair soon, old woman," Light's voice was casual as she finally found the kitchen scissors.

"W-why?" the whispered question was so quiet, she almost didn't understand it amidst the woman's heavy panting. Mrs. Watanabe was scrabbling against the linoleum now, trying to find purchase, get herself off the floor and run. Unfortunately, her leg was bent at an angle that made it pretty clear that the fall had just about clean snapped her leg in two. Light had little doubt the woman would feel it soon, but the adrenaline numbed her wound for the moment.

Pointedly ignoring the woman's efforts, Light grabbed the backpack she had left on the back of her chair and rifled through it until she found exactly what she was looking for. Even though she was fairly certain that the woman was human, she couldn't take any chances; not with this.

"No particular reason. You were dumb enough and I was desperate enough. Now, I think you need to sleep a little longer- maybe forever," Light bent over hapless Mrs. Watanabe and inserted a needle directly into the corner of her eye. RC suppressant. Shock quickly turned to panic as Light rewrapped her small hands around the woman's neck. It was a careful art, one that she had perfected out of necessity, and one that she had just about botched seconds before. This time she did it right, holding on for a few more seconds than necessary. Better dead than kicking was what Mother always said.

Light hadn't really believed that until now.

A peek out the window told Light that the sun was higher up in the sky, just enough to be early morning. Maybe seven or eight. She could definitely leave, but first she had other business to attend to.

The bathroom was dim, one bulb already blown from the overhead fixture and the other on its way. On the chipped porcelain sink, four toothbrushes rested in holders, only one obviously used; the others were just stale memories, waiting, much like the rest of the house, for three people to come back home and resume their lives.

The supplies on the counter- a bottle of bleach, a tiny set of scissors, and a knife- suggested that she was either about to clean up a homicide or cut her hair. She was familiar with procedures for both.

First, she grabbed a ponytail holder from the sink and tied her hair up. That was the easy part. What followed wasn't. It took everything she had in her to make eye contact and pick up the knife. The blade sliced through the base like it was made of little more than air.

The long rope- what little evidence she had left of her old self- was stuffed in the toilet and promptly flushed away. It might cause problems later for the poor old woman- if she was still alive.

The small scissors were next. They snipped and clipped at her bangs and the ragged ends of her hair until it was to her liking. If she were being perfectly honest with herself, it looked like her three year old brother had taken the scissors and gone to town. But at least it was done.

She could safely say that she no longer looked like herself. In fact, what she was seeing was beyond her wildest dreams. Never had she imagined that she would be standing in an apartment in Japan, dressed in a dead boy's clothes with both eyes exposed to the world.

She hadn't seen her injured eye in a long time, preferring to cover it with her hair and avoid mirrors whenever possible. It looked just as grotesque as the day she had received the injury. But she'd anticipated this- or, at least, her friends had.

After a few minutes of digging through her backpack, Light produced a white medical eye-patch and secured it tightly around her left eye. It was rough and itchy, but it would do the job. She was glad they packed it. A right and proper lady was always prepared, and her mother hadn't raised anything but a lady.

Without another glance at the mirror, she tucked the knife in her backpack, shouldered it, and hefted the bleach towards the kitchen. The old crone was still laying prone on her back, but her chest was clearly rising and falling with the peacefulness of sleep.

So she hadn't died after all. _How fortunate_ , Light's lips puckered in thought as she considered finishing the job. It'd be too messy, cause too much attention. The woman just better stay down this time.

Light poured the bleach on the floor, quickly sopping her own blood up with a rag. Next, she wiped down all of the surfaces she may have touched in the house.

When the old crone finally managed to call the police- because what idiot wouldn't? -Light didn't want them to find anything that would potentially identify her.

A few minutes later, the front door banged shut as Light lightly jogged down the steps and towards the nearest metro station. She had to get out of this ward and get home.

~...*...~

It wouldn't be until much later that Mrs. Watanabe would wake up and re-break her leg so it would heal properly. She knew she needed to get rid of the food weighing down her stomach, but first she wanted to take stock of what was missing. The child wouldn't have been foolish enough to leave empty-handed.

A cell phone, three or four pairs of clothes, several knives, and- curiously enough- her dead son's favorite stuffed animal had gone with the girl. After everything the little girl had done, it was strange that Mrs. Watanabe could not muster the strength to be angry with her. It was obvious that she was running from something, and that something had to be scary. Feeling rather helpless, Mrs. Watanabe went to the landline and dialed a number she had memorized by heart.

"Hello, this is the CCG. How may I help you?"

 **So this is the beginning of my first Tokyo Ghoul fan fiction. Can anyone guess who the mysterious child is? Feel free to give me feedback and tell me if the premise of the story seems good.**


	2. Chapter 2: Hide-N-Seek

**Whoever fears the dark is wise. Whoever embraces the dark will walk a path far from the light. -anonymous**

There were many virtues that Mother had failed to imbue her daughter, but patience was quite possibly the worst. It was nearly impossible for the little girl to sit in the hard plastic seat, waiting obediently for her stop. She wasn't livestock, something to be packed into this tiny tin can of death that hurtled at unrealistic speeds beneath the city of Tokyo.

But for the moment she had to pretend like she was.

And Light was good at playing pretend.

She was good at quite a few things, actually. Like hiding and hunting and acquiring new skills. Currently, for instance, she was perfecting her ability to get on someone's nerves.

"Sit still, young man!" a thin, wrinkly fellow groused at Light. He was glaring at her behind flimsy glasses, lips pursed in blatant disapproval.

She cocked her head, eyes wide with innocuous perplexity. "I don't understand," the words were slow and heavily accented with English. Her tattered shoes continued to squeak across the metallic floor as she peddled them back and forth idly.

The man huffed and tried to resume reading his apparently-riveting newspaper. But judging by the way his eyes narrowed and hands shook, he wasn't succeeding.

He got off on the next stop, pushing through the dozen or so people that were boarding. Another older man with a newspaper immediately took his place. _Great more people,_ she huffed. The car was already near capacity.

The new passengers began settling, trying to relax in the jam of people.

Amidst the chaos, a very interesting scent wafted towards her. By interesting, Light meant that a two-week-old carcass would have smelled better than that wretched odor. Nevertheless, a mixture of curiosity and aggravation prompted Light to scour the car for the source. So many people… How was she supposed to find anything in this horde?

Another deep breath and Light could detect the faint odor of female ghoul mingled with the scent, old and probably weak. Now she knew what she was looking for.

The flash of a metal briefcase with a dove stamped into it was all she needed to confirm what she had known to be true. There was a ghoul hunter on board the train.

But as soon as her interest piqued, it waned. He wasn't anything to call home about. His weapon was as weak as his portly body. He may have had the honor of carrying a case, but he hadn't seen the battlefield for a long time. She doubted he'd be able to do much more than send a particularly skittish ghoul running.

She was back to being hopelessly bored.

Thoughts of her brother began creeping in, jumbling with memories of the Academy and Mother…

As the next round of passengers exited and a new set boarded, a familiar scent drifted to her. It slowly overwhelmed the scent of old death, leaving her with a longing that ached all the way to her bones.

Home.

It emanated from a young man who slunk past her and the ghoul hunter with half-lidded obliviousness. Bright blue headphones covered his ears and his head bobbed back and forth with the beat. He had turned the volume up so loud that Light could almost make out every word of the too-upbeat, mostly English lyrics.

She carefully feigned disinterest, only letting her eyes flicker across him for a brief second to confirm that his clothes were fresh. No evidence then. Definitely not the sloppy type. Hmm…

A bright smile spread across her face as the train sidled to a stop, the characters for 20 streaming across the board over the doors. Light was the first one out the door, quickly melding with the morning rush.

The boy lingered in her mind even as she impetuously pushed through people to escape the oppressive underground. She'd definitely have to find him in the future. But, right now, that was not her priority. As she emerged from the underground, her eyes alighted on another twenty.

She was almost home.

* * *

Apartment 12. Its drab grey door looked exactly like those flanking it- a facsimile that was dishearteningly like the Daisy Fields back in the States. She hated to consider that her brother could live in such a place, but Tokyo was different. They did not have Daisy Fields or anything like them as far as she was aware.

Although, she couldn't deny that the neighbors definitely looked like they belonged amongst those dead humans walking- especially the older man who had hobbled into 14 about half an hour ago, shaking hands clutching a flimsy cane like it was his lifeline. Perhaps the Daisy Fields would not house the exhausted student who had raced out of 11, book bag flying wildly behind her, about fifteen minutes ago. She was a bit too young and hopeful to be resigned to such a place, although for the right price...

A deep, rumbling noise emanated from the roiling grey sky, threatening to unload its burgeoning weight of rain and sin at any moment and nearly giving Light the proper motivation to abandon her attempt at surveillance.

Muttering dark curses under her breath and glaring at the sky with such a ferocity any passerby would be convinced that she could send the clouds running the other way did little to cower the forces of nature. The first cold drop fell, running down her face like a tear. The rain had definitely made the decision for her then.

With great reluctance, Light clambered from the fire escape and slunk across the street to apartment 12, to home.

For a few moments, her fist hung in the air, prepared to rap against the faux wood. When the second raindrop hit her forehead, she threw away her trepidation and finally rapped her knuckles smartly against the ugly thing.

When the second rap gave her no answer, a realization hit her so hard that she almost lashed out against the brick siding. Not wanting to break anything, she ended up facing palming herself rather angrily.

The frantic student- Of course. No doubt that there would be no one home for hours yet. Her brother was a college student and it was a Friday, after all. Even if she was playing truant, school was still in session for everyone else.

"Well then. Let's see how good your security is, Big Brother."

The lock was simple, perhaps a four-minute job if she was really trying not to break anything- and she wasn't.

A fluttery anticipation settled in her gut as she pushed open the door and slipped into a nearly pitch black room. After feeling around blindly for a moment, she found the light switch and rectified the problem.

As expected, the dim lighting revealed an immaculately clean and highly minimalistic living room and kitchenette. A single shabby couch and a wooden coffee table rested sadly in the center of the otherwise-barren room. No dirty laundry or stray wrappers littered the floor. Not even a textbook was thrown haphazardly to the side.

An eerie foreboding began to rise up in her throat, but Light batted it away, refusing to allow it control. There was no way that he could be-

Gone.

The one word she hadn't wanted to even consider, but, upon entering the adjoining room, she couldn't deny what was right in front of her. The proof was painted throughout the bedroom; it was a tomb that hadn't been opened or disturbed in a very long time. Light ran her finger gently over a piece of homework scattered across the desk for confirmation. The pad of her finger came away thick with grey dust, certainly disheartening for a boy whose grades were the reason for his existence.

Even his bed was dusty, laden with disuse and vacancy.

If he hadn't been in the house in months, the Academy more than likely hadn't found him yet either. He was still safe. The relief was short lived as she realized that it didn't mean they wouldn't find him. She had to get to him- to home- before they did, or she would never ever have another home.

But what if he was already dead? A carcass eaten by Ghoulies and scavengers. He was so soft and fragile…

No, no, no… Not possible. Never possible. She would have felt it. He was fine. He was just being stupid. Rebelling or something. She just had to get to him first. She just had to get home. But where could he be?

Where was Big Brother?

She whirled around, flinging the single picture of their mother that Big Brother had kept across the room and giggling maniacally when it shattered into a million pieces.

The next picture was of three children, two forcing smiles while they tried to kick each other from behind the boy in the center. _Yoshi_ , she thought fondly. Quickly, the beginnings of a small smile turned to a hard frown. Where was he at anyway? Hadn't he promised her he'd take care of Big Brother?

She had the decency to remove the picture before shattering that picture frame as well. She tucked it along with a photo of her fully grown Big Brother in her backpack with all of her other important documents. Three more picture frames smashed before she was remotely satisfied with the damage.

Feeling a little lost and in desperate need to talk with her best friends, Light's hand fluttered towards her back pocket, only to stop when the empty truth reminded her that she no longer had a phone.

The Academy had disposed of it several months ago when they had taken her into custody. Even if she did have a phone, the twins had been very explicit that she was not to contact them for at least two weeks. They all had to play the waiting game now.

Something she was so extremely bad at.

Groaning, she reached for another fragile object but then thought better of it. This was Big Brother's house after all- even if he was missing.

As she mulled over her predicament, trying to figure out what to do next, a revelation occurred. Missing was just another word for hiding.

And if Big Brother was hiding then she could definitely find him.

She wasn't the all-time champion of hide-n-seek for nothing after all.

 **So this is considerably shorter than the first. I have had this idea for a while now, but I wasn't really sure if I should write about it because it is a little (actually very) dark. There will be lighter moments coming up and there will be more obvious tie-ins with Tokyo Ghoul as we go. I will update, but it might be slow. Let me know what you all think about this story and if writing style, grammar, etc. could be changed. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3: Of Coffee Shops and Madmen

_I protect my own. - anonymous_

 **CCG Headquarters 1st Ward**

"You should go home, get some rest," Shinohara advised Amon and Akira as they finally left the conference room. Sleeplessness was evident on all of their faces, dark shadows and stress painted indelibly in lines and planes.

"We could say the same to you, Shinohara," was the firm reply he received from Akira. "We have a lead on Rabbit that we need to pursue."

"We can't go to sleep yet either!" Juuzou popped out from behind Shinohara, limbs splayed in gross exaggeration. "We have yummy food to eat."

Amon frowned, "But the case wasn't given-" He cut himself off suddenly, knowing what it would be to argue with the irascible young man.

Shinohara chuckled good-naturedly, covering Amon's near-blunder. "The lead on the Binge-Eater case seems promising anyway. We were briefed earlier; I've asked Takizawa to update you two as well. We are going to Kaneki Ken's last workplace for lunch it seems."

Suddenly, the new temp burst from the elevator carrying sacks laden with what smelled like hot food.

"Got your lunches!" the overly-exuberant blonde smiled cheerfully. "A deluxe for you Amon and a pasta salad for you, Akira. I got extra rice, too, Amon."

"Sorry, Nagachika. I know you're not our errand boy," Akira smiled wanly at the young fireball. He was always so helpful, going above and beyond the CCG's expectations for him.

Everyone bowed to each other as they went their separate ways: Nagachika, Amon, and Akira to the office and Shinohara and Juuzou to the train station. Today was going to be a very long day.

* * *

"Tokyo's too big," Light muttered to herself as she turned right at the intersection. The café was supposed to be three left turns and one right turn from Big Brother's apartment. That was what the very helpful lady had said two streets ago, but she was beginning to wonder whether she had been lied to.

It had taken her thirty minutes to get this far, and she didn't want to spend another thirty minutes trying to pick her way back to where she had started. So, she continued down the street, puttering along in a fashion that juxtaposed her newfound appearance.

Insolence did not sit well with her dark blue sweater, white collared shirt, and dress pants. She had taken the first opportunity to be rid of the dead kid's clothes, preferring to wear her very-much-alive brother's clothing. Because he couldn't _not_ be alive.

Even if the cloying stench of female ghoul clung to her brother's clothing like a second skin.

That meant nothing- absolutely nothing. He could just go to school with a ghoul or perhaps his workplace had a few in them. It wasn't like he would know any better.

 _All the more reason he could be-_

Nope. She shook her head violently, further dispelling any appearance of a presentable student.

So distracted was she by her thoughts that she did not see the chalkboard sign before it banged into her knees, almost sending her sprawling to the unforgiving concrete.

"That was very rude," she scolded the sign. Light would have continued on, but the thick, chalky words gave her pause. Especially the first word, which was in, of all things, English.

 _Anteiku_

 _Special of the Day_

 _Flavored coffee with sugar cookie- 500 yen_

Anteiku. Wasn't that the name of the café she was looking for?

A small squeal left her lips as she rushed for the door. At the last minute, she remembered to compose herself, painting anger and danger on her young face.

This wasn't a fun trip. This was serious. If Big Brother was in there, he wasn't going to see a squealing schoolboy who was happy to see him. Oh no. He was going to see a vengeful angel coming to wreak hellfire on his life. She would make sure of it.

The bright tingling of the bell made her wince internally as it drew the attention of a bird-like waitress and a relic that was perhaps once a man. Their eyes seemed to drill into her like twin feather kagunes, but she really couldn't understand the emotions roiling behind them. The girl seemed clueless and the man about as legible as intricate graffiti.

Light took a seat in the far corner of the place, tracking the three other customers that were scattered around the room, ensuring she had gotten there first.

The three customers seemed to be Japanese and not connected to each other in any sinister way. An older man with raggedy clothes was at one table and two women were chattering over coffee at another table.

Inhaling deeply, Light immediately identified two of them as ghouls- if their chosen beverages were anything to go by. Black coffee. The third woman was human, had to be in order to stomach the disgusting odor coming from the concoction that she had added to the coffee. None of them screamed danger, but she knew better than to let her guard down.

She did not want any surprises from the Academy.

Light cast another glance at the human woman and her irritating ways. The rich scent of roasted coffee grounds mixed with sweet confectionary was sickening. Light could feel the bile in the back of her throat and the weight of the food she had eaten earlier threatening to reemerge.

Why did the stupid humans have to ruin every good thing? Even the one thing she could still enjoy- coffee.

Someone chose that moment to exit the restroom, flooding the restaurant with the ripe smell of vomit and making her actually gag. When would the torture end?

The man was muttering something foul under his breath, obviously preparing to storm from the establishment, but the old man called him over with profuse apologies on his lips.

The old man offered the infuriated customer another cup of coffee which was taken and sniffed very carefully.

Wanting to rid herself of the odor of vomit, Light took a deep whiff, trying to focus in on that exact odor, and almost lost her control. Either from incredible joy or immense hunger, it was anyone's guess.

To steady herself, she carefully assessed the two staff members, trying to pick out their scents amongst the rest of the shop. It was difficult, but she was almost positive she knew what they were.

Never before had she really seen ghouls as a threat, but her brother was a special case. If he had been working here, amongst ghouls, in a world where there were no laws for ghouls…

She wouldn't pursue that thought. They had just better pray they hadn't done anything to her brother or their lives were already forfeit.

As if sensing her animosity, the waitress was barely cordial with her when taking her order (a black coffee with odorous sugar).

It was as the waitress was bringing out her order, that the bell tinkled, announcing the arrival of customers.

 **Not right now.**

As if concurring with her thought, the waitress' tray wobbled and crashed to the floor. Her profuse apologies fell on deaf ears. Light nearly banged her fist against the table but redirected her energy to helping collect the larger fragments of the mug.

It was only after sitting down that she realized her hands were trembling.

The waitress seemed to be very jolted as well, whispering fiercely with the old man as the two new arrivals chattered with each other.

The next time the bell chimed, Light almost screamed but quieted when she realized the new arrival was only a child ghoul, maybe just a few years older than herself. Her face was fixed into a frown even before she spotted the hunters.

When she did, she walked over to the bar and began speaking with the two workers. Light couldn't distinguish what they were saying, but it ended with her and the waitress going into the back.

The old man brought her a new cookie and a new cup of coffee, perhaps trying to redirect her attention. "Kaneki, would you rather go in the back?" his words were quiet and followed with a slight bow to her.

Her eyes cut to him sharply. _That's_ _ **not**_ _my name._ But she managed to force out between gritted teeth, "You're mistaken. I'm…" a hundred monikers went through her head… "Light."

"I apologize," he smiled but it was a bit stiff. "A peculiar last name. Please, enjoy your coffee."

She smiled brilliantly, wishing she could just set fire to the whole lot and cut her losses. All these formalities and using last names to address people and the stupid hunters trying to ruin everything. His comment was just the icing on the cake of her fury.

Light was, in fact, her first name, but saying so would make things far more complicated. Next, he would ask her for her last name and then she would have to lie and lies always dug people into deep holes.

Once a certain number of lies had been told, it was nearly impossible to keep them all straight.

Soon after, the schoolgirl came out of the backroom in a smart uniform and catered to the two hunters with ease. Light had pulled a novel from her bag and was trying to look like she was casually reading it while stirring her steaming cup of coffee.

She was almost frightened to try the coffee, taste the sweet acid she had purposefully ordered in order to appear normal.

"Can I ask you something?" the hunter's voice had been steadily rising as he became more comfortable in the setting.

Although he tried to appear relaxed, it was very difficult when his large form barely fit at the table. Compared to the child in front of him, he was a hulking monstrosity.

It was impossible to deny that they had both been her playmates not hours ago, but it brought a stale sort of joy. She didn't have time to play right now and if they recognized her they would want to play.

At least the boy was facing away from her. _He would have been the best one to play with._ But they couldn't play, and he really had no reason to recognize her if he wasn't looking at her.

"Was there a young man by the name of Kaneki working here before?" the large man wondered. His voice was soothing, trying to calm the girl. Such a funny thing. A human trying to soothe a ghoul.

"He did for a while… He was a college student…" the waitress seemed reluctant to give information. This struck Light as odd.

If he were missing wouldn't they want to alert anyone in the area, especially hunters? If they had eaten him, they were already making themselves suspicious. They obviously hadn't taken Ethics and Sensibilities of Gastronomy.

"He's not around anymore?" the hunter almost made it a statement, but the question still rang through.

He already knew what he was talking about, had accessed files and information. This wasn't him trying to find out information; he was trying to find out what Kaneki Ken's coworkers knew.

"No, not anymore. Is he in trouble?" the timidity in the waitress' eyes was almost too much to bear for Light.

She was a bloody ghoul; she shouldn't be scared of a _human,_ especially not these lily-livered hunters. They hadn't even been able to properly wound her when she'd given them a motionless target.

Amidst Light's internal grumblings, the overly-large man flashed his identification at the girl. She supposed it told her the reason they were there. The waitress made a show of being shocked and gave Light the proper term for the hunters.

"Ghoul investigators? What do you have to do with Kaneki Ken?"

The name finally sank in for Light. Kaneki Ken. Why were investigators looking for _her_ human? Her Big Brother? Was it the fact that he was missing? Why did they think ghouls might be involved? Obviously, they didn't know that these three workers were ghouls, so what had she missed?

She wasn't sure.

Even though she was missing information, as the investigators spoke with the young waitress, Light began to understand precisely how bad the situation actually was. She had thought she herself was in hot water, but it seemed Big Brother's pot was boiling.

Big Brother hadn't been to work in over six months- if the girl was telling the truth. He had been in an accident, had an organ transplant, and was still sick. He had wanted to go far away, be whimsical like all young boys.

She knew there was no truth behind the girl's last statement. If there was one thing she knew, it was that Big Brother was still as big of a stiff as he was ten years ago. His apartment told it all.

But at least she had a lead. She knew the ghouls were involved with his disappearance in some way. Which meant she needed to take her game to the next level. She would find Big Brother- even if she had to kill them all.

"What are you reading?" the voice of the old man startled her. The conversation between the staff and the investigators had ended and they were now enjoying their gross sandwiches.

"The Hangman's McGuffin," she replied instantly. She had seen it on Big Brother's nightstand and snatched it up without a second thought. It was in Japanese so it would be hard for her to read, but it was better to appear to be doing something.

Less people would accuse her of eavesdropping.

There was a chuckle and the next sentence made her stomach drop. "It must be very difficult to read upside down."

A few choice words zipped through her head. But rather than doing anything so _mundane_ and sensible, she reacted on instinct.

A deep, guttural snarl emerged from the base of her chest, and her face contorted with rage and warning. All her pearly white teeth were on display, ready to rip and tear if further confronted.

If she had really thought through the consequences of what such a common gesture would lead to, she may have worked just a little harder to restrain herself. But she couldn't have known and the likelihood was that she still would have done the same if she had known.

Her display of aggression would coincide with the departure of the investigators with a very unfortunate precision that some would view as fate. The investigators had paid and the big, burly investigator was already out the door, his smaller companion just behind him.

And then the companion turned towards the noise.


	4. Chapter 4: Tales of Ninjas and Pigs

Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying light. -Dylan Thomas

When Shinohara hauled him into the coffee shop, his mind had been cluttered with all of the tasty sweets he would get to eat along with his cup of hot chocolate. This case did not interest him; platitudes and insipid interrogations were for people with much more time and patience than himself.

His point was proven when a quivering little mouse skittered to their table and took their order. When she came back out, it was a miracle she didn't spill his drink or break a glass with the way she was stumbling along. She really needed to learn to be a better lady. His Mama would not have been impressed.

"He's just a geek that's read a lot about ghouls. Not even a proper scientist," Shinohara's grousing broke through Juuzou's ruminations. His mentor was frowning pointedly at a wimpy man on the television going on about the Binge Eater.

A strong but quiet voice suddenly dissolved his mentor's grumbling, "Can I get anything else for you two?"

Shinohara's attitude instantly brightened as he smiled at the new waitress. He ordered sandwiches and another round of drinks, probably trying to put the girl at ease. Before she could turn tail and run, Shinohara made a motion for the waitress to pause. Knowing what was coming next, he stretched back in his chair, already bored out of his mind. What was the point of a long-winded interrogation to discover information they already knew?

But as his mentor launched into his first question, Juuzou discovered an intriguing scent coming from the girl- an incriminating one. He cocked his head as he deliberately sniffed the air. "Did you," he giggled with anticipation, already envisioning how he could decorate her with a necklace of her own entrails, "throw up?"

Shinohara cast Juuzou a warning glance before continuing with his initial line of questioning. Juuzou's one point of interest- one chance at killing- became a dull blur as they kept talking and talking _and talking_ about Kaneki Ken. The waitress might be a ghoul- a potential target- and Shinohara hadn't even acknowledged it.

He ate his sandwich almost sullenly, waiting for the moment they could do real hunting. When Shinohara stood up and paid, Juuzou was right on his heels.

But a curious sound- a sound that brought back dark cages and the taste of blood- caused Juuzou to pause as his mentor continued out the door.

Juuzou turned and nearly fell over for joy.

It was her- the one they had been pursuing early this morning. No one had decided on a name for her, but he personally thought it should be the White Dove.

He would have recognized her anywhere, even under the clever disguise she had decided to don. He couldn't deny that she made the _perfect_ boy. Although, Juuzou had to admit that he was a little disappointed that the White Dove had cut her long beautiful hair.

But that was okay. If she wanted to be his brother rather than his sister she could. She was still a beautiful doll. Now she just had to prove that she could be a proper sibling and not die like all the others.

"Juuzou?" Shinohara ducked back into the shop and Juuzou snapped from his thoughts, quickly slipping out of the shop with his mentor. It wouldn't do to give her away because then the CCG wouldn't let them play.

But could he really let her live if she proved strong enough not to die? He was a ghoul investigator after all. And ghoul investigators killed ghouls.

But maybe, just maybe, he could make an exception for her.

* * *

 _He hadn't recognized her._ The relief was weighted with a little disappointment.

The boy hadn't recognized her.

And by some small miracle she hadn't had a confrontation with the coffee shop crew. Not that she didn't think she could take them. Their smell wasn't so strong as to convince her they were undefeatable. But fighting them might set her back, make it harder to find her brother.

As things once again settled in the coffee shop, Light decided to take a sip of the now-lukewarm coffee- and almost fell out of her chair. It was good.

Not sickly sweet as sugar usually was when it tainted coffee, but rich, deep, and soothing. A filling experience that made her want more.

To spite the Old Man, she deliberately flicked to the next page of her book, continuing to 'read' upside down. She waited a long while after she had finished her coffee before finally signaling for the check. She needed everything to be calm, relations to be smooth, for her next step.

It was the ditzy waitress who stumbled over; the one who couldn't properly hold a tray. Excellent. "I heard them talking about a guy named Kaneki Ken," Light ventured as she counted yen from a nondescript leather wallet. "Did he really just disappear?"

"I don't know," she replied with a confused shrug.

"How much would information on him be worth?" Light continued to press.

The waitress seemed to waver for a moment, before reemphasizing, " _I_ _don't know anything_."

But they both knew that was a lie.

Light gave a huff, packing away her book. "Maybe I could hack a system? Might trigger the hunters- lead them back here- but I mean he's not dead, right? So I should be able to find him."

The girl laughed, although Light hadn't said anything funny. Light would do whatever it took to find Ken- even if she had to bring the little shop down with her.

"Maybe…" the waitress bit her lip, but the gleam in her eye told Light that the hesitance was an act. It through her for a loop. It was far too cunning for the ditzy waitress act that the girl had been wearing. "Well, I know a person who deals in information. She might be willing to trade if you have something worthwhile. Go to Helter Skelter. Tell her what you want to know and what you have to give."

Light took the name, tucking it carefully into her memory, and sauntered out the door, only realizing afterwards that she didn't have a clue where Helter Skelter might be. The likelihood that she would get anything from the dim waitress was zilch, so she resolved to find another ghoul, one whose tongue she could loosen through other means…

A cold hand grabbed her wrist and hauled her down an alley. It was attached to the kid with white hair, the one who had pretended not to recognize her. Very sly, she grudgingly admitted. Good thing she could be sly too. Taking a deep breath, she used his steel grip to flip over him and land in a crouched position.

As she looked up, short hair falling into her eyes, they seemed to darken, and then a wide, haunting smile stretched across her face.

They needed to get further back into the alley if they were actually going to play.

She took off running at full-tilt, casting a glance over her shoulder to make sure the kid was following.

"~Wanna play?!~" she invited him with a giggle when it seemed he wasn't going to take the bait.

A knife whizzed past her face, several feet from her head.

Was that a yes? Another gift? The last still lay at the bottom of her backpack, stinking of dead ghoul. She didn't really want another one.

Another knife came flying, this one closer, and the sound of pursuit sang in her ears. She harrumphed as she spotted a fire escape in the distance. He wasn't even trying.

Deciding she was far enough back, she slowed her running to a lackadaisical skip. The next knife she anticipated, retrieving it from midair, the blade slicing through the flesh of her palm and coating the hilt with sticky hot blood.

The kid giggled and then screamed indiscernibly.

"We aren't playing that," she turned to him with a stern frown. "We're playing ninja."

"I don't like that game. I like playing cook, but we can't play that because you can't be the pig anymore." His disappointment was tangible, but no more than her own.

She cocked her head to the side and then sent the knife back at him. It hit his shoulder, red blossoming like some wicked flower. "~You're not very good at ninja.~"

The boy smiled then, a wicked demonic stretch of the face that put her own to shame. "Neither are you."

The blades came out of nowhere, all at once striking her like a pincushion.

Yet she managed to remain standing, despite the blinding pain, despite the desire to fall to her knees. She did not bother to yank any of them out. That would be bad, very bad. She was not going to bleed out in a forsaken alley because of one bad playmate.

"Maybe," she shrugged painfully, distinctly aware that she did not want to play anymore.

"What? You don't want to play anymore?" the boy giggled.

"Your games hurt too much."

"It was _your_ game," he muttered almost sullenly, but skipped closer to her. "But you didn't scream. Everyone always screams."

She gave him almost an affronted look, "Screaming makes it worse. 'Sides, ninjas are supposed to be quiet."

She finally landed hard on her butt, unable to handle the dizziness any longer.

The boy got up into her face, almost curiously, and asked, "Are you dying?"

She grimaced, all hints of playfulness leached from her. "No. Even if I were, isn't that what you want? Hunters kill ghouls."

The boy chewed his lip, kneeling on the wet gravel as he thought. "Well, yeah, but I can't play that game with you. Here," he stabbed something sharp through one of the many lacerations on her arm, something small, but it somehow hurt worse than all of the knives combined. He dropped something else, red as blood, in her lap before abruptly leaping to his feet.

"~Thanks for playing! Let's do it again, little bro!~"

Light stared after him with cottony confusion before reaching for her arm to see what gift he had supposedly given her. A needle, long and thin and wickedly sharp.

It took several tries to string the thread, what with her shaking hands and the fogginess erupting around her.

But when she did, she dropped the needle, cursing. A familiar, burning pain had blossomed under her eyepatch, the skin there almost vibrating. _Not now._

She practically ripped the backpack from her shoulders, knocking one of the knives from her arms in the process. That brought a startling blackness that was very slow to fade.

When her vision was clear, she pulled a syringe from her backpack and forced the needle in her arm. The RC suppressant flooded her system in a rush of breathless weakness. As helpless as a mewling kitten now. But her trembling diminished and the pain faded.

With careful movements, she weaved the thread over her open wound before then addressing the knives that had yet to be dragged from her skin. They weren't embedded very deep, not as badly as they could have been. He went easy on her; the aggravation at that was stronger than the relief at being alive.

When she was patched up, she rose on shaking legs only to fall back down as a shadowed figured appeared in the entrance of the alley. Today was just not her day.

 **So I haven't gotten anymore comments since the first chapter. Is my writing style okay? Is it scrambled, inconsistent, in need of improvement? I'd love to just hear what you guys think. I really enjoy constructive criticism because I want to be a writer one day, and the only way to get better is to have others me what they think. Thank you all.**


	5. Chapter 5: A Ghoul's Gotta Eat

_It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt._

The figure approached quickly, walking in a jerky fashion befitting of a good, old-fashioned horror movie. Maybe the Grudge or Revenge of the Red Ghoul.

However, as he came closer, Light relaxed against the rough brick. Neon blue earphones glinted in the half-light- another, albeit unwelcome, playmate.

He looked sickly pale and deep circles darkened the flesh under his glowing red eyes. Thin veins extended in a frightening manner across his face. He must have been starving with the way his face was sunken in, almost gaunt with hunger.

But he had fed that morning, right? So what happened to him?

Her thoughts immediately strayed to the white-haired ball of cheating energy. Did her hunter hurt him? Did he hurt her hunter?

Nah, her hunter was far too smart to get killed. Even smarter than her, and that was pretty smart if she did say so herself.

"Who are you?" Light asked as she casually planted her hands on the ground. The slight testing of her weight told her she wasn't even at ten percent her strength. She'd be lucky to get off the ground at all.

He paused for a moment, his lips pursed before closing the last foot between them.

With a harsh sigh, he knelt down to her level. His eyes were wide and honest, like a veterinarian before they put down a particularly piteous dog.

"I'm hurt," he whispered, and, then, as an afterthought, "I'm _hungry._ "

Somehow those fours words were an apology. _Apologies,_ she sneered. Words meant absolutely nothing.

Actions, though. Actions were _everything_.

As he drew nearer, arms outstretched, mouth positively watering, her heart began to hammer fast, fast, faster in her chest. Yes, actions were everything. And if she didn't act she was going to die.

Her scent wouldn't save her, not this time, because what did hungry ghouls eat when they couldn't find humans?

She whimpered, tears welling up on command. Panic crossed his face and he sat back on his haunches, rubbing his eyes angrily. Light's quick assessment of him was right, then. Actions were everything. And he couldn't act. He was soft-hearted, _weak._

 _Don't get too cocky._ As weak as he was, she knew she wasn't exactly prepared to fight. Not yet, not with that dose of RC suppressant.

"I _have_ to. You don't understand. You're too young to understand. You don't have anyone depending on you," he glared at her then, apparently strengthening his resolve with that last statement.

But his tone only forced her to make a high, keening noise, reminiscent of her younger sister's cries when Mother took away that stuffed bear.

"No, no," he swallowed visibly. She could feel his panic- see it through the warm, salty tears. "Don't be afraid. Its' alright. It won't hurt. I'll make it quick."

So that wouldn't do. He'd kill her anyways, murmuring soft assurances even as he wrung out her neck. Not that weak after all.

 _You have to act._ Mother's terse tone whispered warningly.

Suddenly, she flung her arms around him, not giving him the chance to recover as she bit down on his shoulder, working her jaw hard to tear the flesh away. It only produced a pinprick, but it was enough to make her a little stronger.

And a little was all she needed.

He yelled something- a curse in Japanese probably- simultaneously shifting to wrench her off him, but Light had already scuttled away. A harsh laugh cut through her sobs. In place of the waterworks was a sly smirk. The tables had turned. Now, _she_ was towering over _him_.

"And that's why you can't catch a decent meal," if her voice was scornful, grating, maybe even condescending, she didn't think Mother would mind. It was okay to put a useless man in his place. A little un-ladylike, but some people needed to learn their place. "Or, if you do, its little kids who can't fight back. Is that how you got hurt? Trying to kill someone's baby?"

He was standing, body quaking with fury and shame at her accusations, but his kagune had yet to erupt. She doubted it would. Someone had definitely done a number on him. How was he still walking, still moving about?

"You take that back, kid. You don't understand. You _can't_ understand."

She resisted the urge to protest. "Whether I do or do not, I would suggest taking your fight elsewhere. Otherwise, you might be carried out of this alley in a black bag."

"I will not take flak from a six-year-old."

She bared her teeth at him, still stained pink with his blood. "I AM NOT SIX!" Light's thunderous voice echoed throughout the empty alley, an angry hiss that was half-English, half-Japanese. And the fight was on.

The boy barely had time to react before a knife went flying at him. It deflected harmlessly, barely nicking his skin.

The second one wasn't so harmless, sinking into his flesh the way a proper quinque should. And then her kagune joined the fight as well.

Or, no… the boy staggered as two blood-red shards dealt an inordinate amount of damage to his torso, slicing through vital, squishy organs like butter. The wounds weren't right for a child's kagune.

Yes, he was weak from an earlier encounter with that cocky, good-for-nothing ginger- territorial prat that he was- but she shouldn't have rendered him completely defenseless with just two shards. The wounds weren't even that big. And, really, no child's kagune should be even close to dealing that much internal damage. It was a physical impossibility, like a toddler being able to outsprint a marathon runner.

Yet, somehow, someway, she had.

"I did warn you," although the little girl smiled, it didn't quite reach her eyes.

And that was when he knew he was going to die.

Light stepped forward, ripping one of the shards from his torso. She twirled it around, admiring it before plunging the blade through his stomach- into the lower intestine, maybe, if the way he crumpled meant anything.

"So soft, so weak," Light had meant to sound cool, callous, but she coughed a little at the end, feeling a few of the wounds pull against her stitches. One had already ripped open, though it was hard to tell when deep red stained most of her white shirt and every part of her hurt. Softness… weakness… they were not her.

She was strong. She was barbed wire and steel barrels and raging flames. She would not lose, not _this_ time.

For the boy's part, he did not scream or even beg for his life. He just stared at her with big, guilty eyes until, finally, they closed and his breathing went shallow. Some might assume he was dead, but Light knew better- hoped she knew better. Anatomy and Physiology of Human and Ghoul Systems had to come in handy sometime. It couldn't have been an utter waste of a semester like the twins thought.

If she remembered correctly, he had more than likely just entered the fourth stage of the Hunger Cycle- conservation. There were five stages, the last being death. The fourth stage took the longest, placing the ghoul into something like a coma until he or she either died or had a very unfortunate victim stumble right into their laps.

She guessed the former would occur.

Nevertheless, Light had the decency to drag him behind a dumpster. The ghoul hunter might come back and he wouldn't be lenient with someone who couldn't play his games. No one- not even the idiot ghoul- deserved to be taken by the hunters.

After he was hidden, it took time to make herself presentable again. It wouldn't do for some small kid covered in stitches and blood to come slouching out of an alley. Not in Japan at least. There was only so much that could be done for her copper-crusted skin, but at least she could bind her hastily stitched wounds with gauze and change into clean clothes.

It was another of her brother's outfits, though this one wasn't academic. It was a black turtleneck and a pair of slacks. She was down to one change of clothes again.

If her luck kept up she'd have to find another apartment to raid.

If her luck kept up the Academy would find her before she found her brother.

No, no, no. She was quick and smart and she was the best at hide-and-go-seek. They wouldn't be able to find her if she didn't want to be found. _They wouldn't._

It was then that a low groan echoed from behind the dumpster. "Emi?" the boy called out for someone, perhaps a sister or lover. There was a sharp jolt in her chest.

Nope.

No way.

He would have eaten every last piece of her if given half the chance. It was only fair to leave him there to rot, an eye for an eye and all that. That was what Mother would have done, would have told her to do. Survival of the fittest. He clearly wasn't the fittest if he could be outwitted so easily.

But if her hunter had followed that creed, she wouldn't be there either.

Without her help, he was going to die by her hand. And of everything she was…

"I am not a killer," she murmured softly. "I don't play that game. Not yet."

Instead of running as far away from the boy as she possibly could, she did the second stupidest thing she had ever done. She walked back to him and muttered, "Sorry. I need the energy if I'm going to do this right." It was in English, so she doubted he understood, but it didn't matter. He couldn't fight back anyways.

Removing one of her bracelets from her wrist, she watched it lengthen, sharpening to a fine point. The bracelet glowed red, soaking in the blood, as she cut away the smallest finger of his left hand. Task finished, Light tamped down on her queasiness and ate the wretched meat. It was the best way to recover RC cells at this point, and she'd need her levels a little higher if she was actually going to go through with her idiotic plan.

She was going to raid a hospital.

It wasn't difficult. The hospital was only four blocks from their little alleyway, adjacent to the university. Even though it was slowly fading into night visiting hours were still in progress.

Mentally, she reviewed her Ethical Eating curriculum. When facing starvation, find a hospital. Even if it wasn't ghoul friendly, it would almost always be chaotic. Chaos meant mistakes; it meant misplaced materials. Whole limbs could be lost if the ghoul was clever enough.

And undoubtedly there would be plenty of food at a hospital. There were always plenty of bodies, always people dying or near death, losing limbs and organs and blood. The key was to find out where all of that was stored and then take it without getting caught.

That was the biggest rule, especially in a country like Japan.

Don't get caught.

The second rule was to look knowledgeable, professional. A difficult feat for someone the size of Light. Nevertheless, she walked with purpose right past the empty nurses' station, snagging a white coat from the back of a chair as she went. It was far too large, but at least she looked like she belonged there. Moreover, the coat had a handy badge that gave her access to the restricted areas.

Two nurses rounded the corner as she let herself into a hallway that practically screamed 'do-not-enter'. They didn't even look at her as they continued their discussion about the surgery they just failed. The patient was in critical condition, even after having their arm and leg amputated.

There were plans, apparently, to send the limbs to the ghoul prisons as requested by the patient. The disgust evident in the male nurse's voice burned her blood. He'd just packed it up and it was waiting in the freezer for delivery. Did the other nurse want to take it? She firmly rejected his offer, telling him to find someone else…

A small grin stretched across Light's face as she approached the two nurses. She gave a proper bow and addressed the nurses' by the last names on their badges. It couldn't have worked better if she had planned it herself.

"I am new to this hospital, an assistant from the university. I heard you talking and I could deliver it for you," she suggested.

The male nurse, a balding man with sharp eyes and a bit of a beard, stared at her unsmiling. "You expect me to believe you are in university? You could hardly pass as a primary student. And your Japanese isn't very good either. What are you supposed to be? An American kid playing dress up?"

The woman, who had a younger, softer countenance, cut her eyes over to the man and sternly growled, "You have to stop making judgements like that! If you keep checking staff credentials, they are going to send you to work with the cadavers and then you'll be in the ghoul prisons every week!"

He looked sheepish, but only for a moment before his harsh face flattened out. "Since you're new, I don't suppose you know where the freezer is. Can you take her, Takahashi-san?"

Light was still raging from his previous comment, her cheeks tinged slightly pink and her mouth poised to retort- if only she could find the right words to prove that her Japanese was excellent and far superior to his own.

Then he turned his back on her and disappeared out the door, no bow, no farewell; it was a slight that nearly caused her brain to rupture.

"Follow me," the female nurse gestured to Light.

After a few steps, she found the nerve to ask, "Is my Japanese really that bad?"

The nurse chuckled, slight humor coating her tone as she replied, "It is obvious you are not from here, but that does not mean it is bad. I'd advise you think of a better cover story next time. You could hardly pass for ten, let alone twenty."

Light tensed, "What do you mean? I just began working here yesterday."

The woman's laughter was too light for the topic at hand. "I work with the university students, and they came in two months ago. I would remember you, darling. Look, I know what it's like to be hungry, but here is not the place to get food. I would suggest you get out now, while you still can."

Light sighed, recognizing her blown cover. She'd already failed at rule number one and she hadn't been there for more than five minutes. "It's not for me. My brother is hurt, and that meat is going to ghouls anyways. I came here because I can't hunt. Look at me," and she cringed, knowing she'd have to destroy her pride even more. Act as if she was, indeed, six years old instead of fifteen. "I can't even use my kagune. I'm not asking you to hurt anyone; just let me take the meat and go."

The nurse kept walking, leading her towards the freezer as she had been bidden even though she looked unmoved.

"These are hard times for everyone, kid. Crazy Aogiri."

But she didn't kick her out. They descended into the basement, making Light's chest tighten. She clenched her jaw, but refused to show weakness.

The nurse clicked on a light, revealing a stark room with several empty steel gurneys and one with a white sheet draped over it. At the back was a steel door with large bolts on it- the freezer.

The nurse opened the door, causing a gust of cool air to chill her to the bone. "Have you tried Anteiku? They give out food."

Light's eyes widened. _Not_ on her life. She schooled her face into indifference as the woman emerged with a box saran-wrapped shut. "It's been frozen, so I can't imagine it will taste very good, but hopefully it will help."

"It won't fit in my bag," Light said thoughtfully. "That's asking for trouble."

"Take it or leave it, kid. There are cameras everywhere. I can't just take a leg out and cut it in half. There'd be way too many questions."

So Light took it and wished, much later, that she had just killed a random person off the street. It wasn't worth what followed.

She had escaped the hospital without much questioning, quickly shedding the coat in the nearest alley dumpster. The package was big and clunky. It nearly eclipsed her line of vision if she wasn't careful of how she held it.

As she walked, she began to think, although really she shouldn't have. With such precious cargo, it had really been terribly idiotic not to focus on her surroundings. Mother would be terribly disappointed if she knew that Light had been too caught up in her thoughts.

There was just so much to do. She had to find Big Brother before the Academy did. Which meant she had to find Helter Skelter. Which meant she had to get the stupid kid, Blue was now his name, revived so that he would owe her and lead her directly to the place.

Halfway from the hospital she had decided that was why she saved his life. It had nothing to do with pity. It was practicality. She needed a ghoul, one who owed her enough to risk everything for her, and now she had one.

If asked, Light would insist that she didn't know how it happened. Her senses weren't as sharp as they could have been, maybe. She should have taken more than his pinky, but she was trying to hurry and it had taken everything she had to swallow that much. It was ten times worse than human food ever could be.

But that wasn't really it. If she'd been focused and not thinking, she would have noticed the two person scam setting up. One came at her from the front, knocking her off-kilter. As she careened to the side, the other attacked.

Well, she supposed it wasn't really an attack. She was walking down a busy street at rush hour on a weekday. No ghoul would be _that_ careless.

But grabbing an unmarked package smelling faintly of human meat from her arms? They had no qualms with that. It was there and then gone within the blink of an eye.

"Hey, give that back!" she turned in pursuit of the thieves. Unfortunately, they used the crowd to her advantage. She could barely smell their scents, already mingling with the air and others. There was no way she could track them.

"Blood and guts!" she cursed. "I hate this game!"

She supposed she'd have to go with another suggestion from her Ethical Eating curriculum, although this was a little more questionable in the ethics department.

Light found a nice bench beside a bright street light. It was a little too chilly to be outside relaxing, but people might assume she was waiting for her parents. She kicked her legs a little, wishing she still had her long hair. This would be so much easier with long hair.

About an hour passed and her butt was growing numb. So much food rushed by, women with children, men with briefcases, and old people with walkers, but none were what she was looking for. They'd be too much for the weak ghoul to handle _._

That was, until a boy tottered by, a little on the young side, but definitely not under twenty. His cheeks were rosy and eyes unfocused. The rest of his face was pale and gaunt, a sallow, sick sheen about him. His clothes were pretty worn, torn in some places, but still suitable, if only just.

Light saw her chance when he tipped a little too far to one side and nearly fell over. No pedestrian moved to help. Everyone just pointedly ignored him. Light leapt up, quick as you like, and lent him a hand.

"Thanks," he slurred, but didn't seem all that interested in her. He'd have kept on stumbling, but she tugged him to a stop.

"Do you need help getting home?" Light asked eagerly. Her Japanese was butchered, but he was drunk enough that she wasn't sure it even mattered.

"No, kid," he shook his head, but didn't push her off of him. "You should be in school."

"So should you," she retorted, though she was sure he was far too old for school.

"If I'd passed the entrance exams, maybe. Can't do anything right, me. No job. My mother hates me. My sister… my sister doesn't know how big a failure I am. If she did… I think… I think if I died… no one would… no one would care. Useless."

 _Perfect._

She guided him to the alley, reminding herself that this was part of the game. _She_ wasn't going to kill him. That would be Blue's job. Her hands were still clean.

Her hands were still clean.

"I think we turned… wrong way," the guy slurred.

Light's grip tightened a little, but she spoke normally, almost friendly if not for the tilt of her lips. "What was your name again? How rude of me not to ask."

"Yonebayashi. Reo Yonebayashi."

Light let go of Reo suddenly, causing him to stumble and then teeter into the dumpster. "Reo Yonebayashi," she let the name roll off her tongue like a delicious secret. "Wanna play a game?" She grinned at him, all teeth and no mercy.

"What do you…?" Before he could finish his sentence, a white hand snaked out from behind the trash can and grabbed hold of Reo's dirty sneaker. He barely had a chance to yelp before the ghoul was on him.

Light beamed. At least the kid was good at what he did. Almost painless. How a proper ghoul made their kills. "It's called Mousetrap. You're not very good at it. ~Guess I should have told you the rules~."

Light skipped a few paces away and dropped to her haunches, half turned away from the scene. It wasn't ladylike to watch a person eat.

She pulled out the needle and thread while she waited. The red looked wonderful against her skin, but she practiced on her pants instead. She had to get the design perfect for her little hunter.

When everything had been devoured, the boy stumbled out and sat down heavily beside her.

"Messy," she tsked without looking up from her work. "We're going to have to teach you manners! Mother would be very displeased."

There was only a grunt. She finally tucked the needle away and looked at him expectantly. As she'd suspected, there was a bit of an organ between his teeth and his shirt was smeared with blood. And he was abominably rude. He grunted at her. _Grunted._

"Are you going to stare at me like some cave man? I'm not even speaking English right now!" She suddenly slammed one of her knives into his hand. "I'm tired of playing games, so get on with it!"

Blue's face twisted in pain before he swallowed visibly and asked, "Wh-why'd you help me?"

She looked at him like he was an insufferable idiot before getting up and retrieving her backpack.

"I mean, I wouldn't've helped me. _I was going to eat you_ and you helped me."

Light tossed the soiled white shirt directly at his head before dumping her last change of clothes at his feet. "Clean yourself up. You're no use to me looking like that."

He handed her back the knife gingerly. At least he was semi-competent. If he'd kept it, he would have found himself with several more.

She turned away, tossing the knife end over end. It took him way longer to put on clothes than necessary.

She heard the zip of his pants just before a loud noise echoed through the alley. "I saw them go this way!" an elderly voice was saying. "And then I heard screaming!"

Light turned to Blue, fisting his clothes into the backpack as she dove into him, pressing her lips rather forcefully against his. The taste of blood lingered there. For a drunk, the man must have tasted _divine_. Light wished Blue had shared; that was proper decorum after all. _She'd_ been the one to catch him. She'd make sure he shared next time.

Not seconds later, several pairs of footsteps burst into the alley. Light sprung away from the boy as if she'd been stung.

Light's cheeks were flushed from the blood, eyes shimmering abashedly. Three people stood before the naughty teens, two with briefcase. The other was an elderly woman who looked vaguely familiar. No way. She was the one who'd stolen her meal!

"Um," Light stuttered. It took everything she had not to launch herself at the hag.

"Sir, it's not what it looks like," the boy stepped in. Superb acting skills. He could definitely have made it in Revenge of the Ghoul.

"You could go to jail for a very long time," the older of the two men looked mildly disturbed. "That is assault of a minor!"

Light stuck her chin out, a bit miffed about the whole age thing. A minor. Really? She was as much of a minor as he was. "Sir, I'm fifteen years old. My partner is sixteen. We are both old enough to make our own decisions. We were looking for a little privacy."

"There are ghouls running rampant in this ward." This was the second man who looked increasingly embarrassed. His cheeks were as red as a kagune.

Blue jumped in again, obviously recovering from his first scare. "They say it's safer here. This ward hardly ever sees any attacks."

"Safer does not mean safe. Please, come with us."

"Are you two with the police?" Light asked innocently. "I thought police officers wore special uniforms. Or are the three of you perverts?"

Blue flinched, obviously not expecting her to call the hunters such a heinous name.

"The small one was with another young man, I swear," the woman's voice was shaky. Meddling old ghoul. They'd have to deal with her later. Light had a _very special_ game in mind.

"Oh that handsome thing? He went that way," she stuck her finger out towards the other end of the alley. "He wasn't quite into it."

"Sirs, we are with the CCG. We are investigators and you two-"

"Are we under arrest for snogging in an alley?" the boy frowned. "I really think you two would be better served fighting ghouls than arresting deviant teenagers."

"N-no." That was the younger hunter, looking slightly nervous.

"Then what is it you want?" Light took Blue's hand, stroking the new shiny scar. She'd poked that knife through him not ten minutes ago. He had a strong affinity for healing then. That would be useful.

The older hunter looked away. "Just get out of here and get home. It isn't safe at night. Give us a call if you need anything." He pressed a card into Light's empty hand. She'd barely grabbed her bag before the hunters' had ushered them out of the alley and into the night.

 ** _So I've been on hiatus for a bit, but this was my attempt at coming back. I feel like her voice is a bit different this chapter, but I tried. Might go back later and fix it up a bit. My problem is that I agonize over the minute details and then never end up posting the chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I will try to do better in the future._**


	6. Chapter 6: Wanted Elsewhere

WANTED BY THE GIB AND THE FBI

 **HIKARI RIPKEN**

UNLAWFUL FLIGHT IN ORDER TO AVOID PROSECUTION FOR MASS MURDER

 **Date of Birth** : October 13th, 2004 **Place of Birth** : Japan

 **Hair** : White **Height** : 4'6''

 **Sex** : Female **Nationality** : Japanese

REWARD

 **The FBI and GIB are offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ripken.**

REMARKS

Ripken is thought to be a member of the AAG with ties to the Sangre street gang. She speaks both English and Japanese, although English is her primary language. She was last seen on October 21st, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri.

CAUTION

On February 24th, 2019, over 40 members of the AAG and close associates of the local street gang Sangre were indicted in the United States District Court, District of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri for engaging in genocide and anarchy. Ripken was charged with multiple accounts of murder, battery, and assault, and a federal warrant was issued for her arrest.

Ripken has murdered over twenty people and has inflicted serious physical injury on other persons. Ripken is alleged to have served as "protection" during certain heists and for the interstate transport of significant members of Sangre. There are some reports that Ripken is also known as the executioner for the branch of the AAG in St. Louis, but the AAG has been less than forthcoming with information.

 **SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS**

 **If you have any information concerning this person, DO NOT attempt to approach her. Contact your local FBI or GIB office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate immediately.**

Field Office: St. Louis


	7. Chapter 7: Meet the Family

**We're all killers. We've all killed parts of ourselves to survive. We've all got blood on our hands. Something, somewhere, had to die so we could stay alive. -if memories could bleed, if dreams could scream | m.a.w. (via dvoyd).**

"Where are we heading?" Light clutched Blue's hand tighter, skipping cheerily even though she could feel the dull tug from her stitches. Her clothes didn't feel warm or sticky, so that had to mean something. She'd be okay. She was always okay.

"We?"

She giggled because this kid was _so ungrateful._ If she were Mother…"You owe me your life, Blue."

He jerked to a halt before looking around and continuing as if nothing had happened. "I have nothing, kid. No territory. No power. We go to _Anteiku_ for food. _Anteiku._ There is nothing you could possibly want from me."

She tugged her hand away from his and began skipping backwards. "I bet you got somewhere to sleep."

"No." His face was deadpan serious. "I don't know you. You don't know me. You're not even _from_ here. Why would I-"

"Is that any way to talk to someone who saved your life?" her voice was lilting, but there was frost brimming in her eyes.

She was tired and she was hungry and she had gone through an awful lot of trouble to save him. She shouldn't…

Although she tried to convince herself not to, the knife still wiggled its way into her hand. The weight of the hilt was comforting. Blue's eyes darted to it and back to her face. She hoped he didn't decide that he'd rather die than bring something like _her_ to his home.

Because she'd do it. She _would_ do it.

Abruptly, he walked past her, casting a glance back as if to make sure she was following. Light bounded ahead, not one to be left behind. After a few minutes, Light took his hand again, content to swing it wildly between them.

"How old are you anyways?" he eyed her like one might a particularly mangy dog.

"Don't you know it's impolite to ask a woman her age? Honestly." She squeezed his hand tighter, almost a warning, but he didn't get the memo.

"Woman? Can you even use your kagune yet?"

Why was he so insufferably infuriating? It was like… like… "Ah," she nodded sagely, a look of pity cast his way, " _now_ I get it. You poor thing. Japanese ghouls must not have time to learn manners. Trying to survive and all that. Don't worry! I'll teach you the proper way to behave," she patted the back of his hand reassuringly.

Blue sneered, jerking his hand from hers. "What? You think I crawled out of a cave?"

Light laughed because he sounded like a petulant child. Almost like her little sister. She returned to skipping as if she were the one who'd decided to disengage from him. "You don't fight like it," she shrugged. "I always thought Japanese ghouls would be stronger."

She couldn't see Blue's expression as he turned and trundled down another alley, this one even sketchier than the one before. This was definitely a good hiding place. It was also a good place to lose her. But surely the boy wasn't dumb enough to try _that_.

"Weren't you hurt pretty badly?" he asked sharply, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "That bit of my finger shouldn't have healed you. How are you even upright still?"

" _So_ _rude_ ," she moaned.

It wasn't polite to ask intrusive questions and that was all he'd managed to ask. If he wanted to live, he needed to learn proper manners or she'd skewer him herself. She'd said she was going to teach him some manners, didn't she? No time better than the present.

"You talk too much. ~What if I got rid of your tongue?~"

Blue shot to the other side of the alley, frantically attempting to face her when he realized he'd left his back exposed. The awkward turn made him fall almost directly on his face. Had she really been interested in _this_ bumbling buffoon? She'd never have been able to live down the shame if _he_ had gotten a bite out of _her_.

As it were, she could have taken him down before he'd made it to the other side of the alley. But she didn't so much as flinch towards him, just played with her knife, drawing designs lightly against the red brick. He'd gotten the message. It was too early on in the lesson to use force anyways. Toys broke so easily.

Plus, now Light knew Blue's kagune type. With the way he moved, he was definitely a feather type. Quick, agile, easily worn out.

"This is why I don't want to bring you home," his terse voice sounded strained and rushed, a torrent of words. At least these were amusing rather than rude. "I have people I'm protecting and you would endanger them."

Ha. _Her?_ Light was many things, but she wouldn't willfully hurt people when they invited her into their homes… Well, she wouldn't do that back in the States. In Tokyo, her rules had been blasted to bits. Still, he didn't need to know _that._ "Depends. _I_ have a moral code. You don't."

"And how is your moral code better than-"

Light began advancing on him, slowly, dragging her knife in a way that produced a screeching noise. He flinched. "I won't go after _kids_. In the U.S., no ghoul in their right mind would go after someone's kid. There's a line you just don't cross. You thought I was someone's kid. _You_ crossed that line."

"What do you mean _thought_?"

"I'm not a kid **and** I don't have anyone 'cept Big Brother. He's the greatest Big Brother in the entire world, and I don't **need** anyone besides him."

"Then, why are you clinging to me like some unwanted leech?" Blue backed away, eyes bleeding red and black. The red irises stood out in the alley, but he didn't bring out his kagune. A second knife was in her other palm in an instant.

Did he have some sort of death wish? Why did she go to all that trouble for someone so obviously suicidal?  
"Cause you're going to help me find him," she growled, firmly clenching her weapons. She wasn't going to throw it. She _wasn't_ going to throw it. It really was too early to attack Blue _again_. She'd just healed him…

And the knives were sticking straight out of his arm.

Screw not using force. It was obviously the only way he was going to learn.

Blue clearly miscalculated her reaction. Even after she'd launched her knives straight at him, he wasn't prepared for her to fist his shirt and slam him into the wall. He didn't fight back, just stared at her with wide eyes. Her muscles trembled a bit at the impact, but she let him fall in a crumpled heap before he could tell.

He followed her movements with only his eyes, tense, ready to run. He shrunk away when Light flicked him in the middle of the forehead. "But first we are going to go to your house and I'm going to sleep and if you try to kill me I will make you watch as I gut Emi and whoever else you have living in your home."

The boy groaned, burying his head in his hands. "How do you know about Emi?"

She just smiled brightly, no response needed. He wasn't privy to such classified information. And really he was an idiot because he'd let his guard down right in front of her.

His voice was rough as he looked at her with pleading eyes. "Promise me on this supposed honor that you won't hurt anyone in my house."

He really wasn't in a position to be begging and she told him so. "But, because I am gracious and trying to teach you manners, I will follow your request- as long as they don't hurt me first."

"Fine." He thumped his head violently against the wall.

Blue lived in an apartment complex at the very back of the alley. A dented metal door half-hidden by a graffiti-heavy dumpster led to a crumbling concrete stairwell littered with the remnants of filthy rags and bedding. She stepped around the obstructions carefully, following Blue up, up, up until they could go no higher.

They passed several rotting doors under dingy lighting, flimsy at best. No protection whatsoever. She'd be better off on the street. The carpet on the floor smelled like mildew and rot. Their quality of life was even worse than the Daisy Fields, she sneered to herself.

Is this where all the ghouls lived? Packed like sardines in a structure that was falling to bits around them? "How many people live here?" she asked just before skidding to a stop. A large hole in the center of the hall disappeared into the bowels of the structure.

"No one except us." There was a scuffing noise and Blue flew past her in a burst of colorful flames. His feathery kagune disappeared in a vivid display. Show off.

He arched a brow, perhaps in challenge, but he knew better than to issue it aloud. It was good he hadn't offered to carry her. Light didn't trust that his grip wouldn't slip conveniently at the last moment.

Besides, Light could vault over the abrasion well enough. She flung herself at the wall, propelling herself with a well-aimed kick right before gravity decided to drag her to the concrete floor miles below.

It was several doors after the abrasion when Blue finally stopped and performed a complicated knocking and tapping pattern on a door of solid, sleek wood. It would take force to bring it down, giving them some warning. _That_ made her feel better.

The door opened, revealing darkness. Blue stepped in, confidently treading through the unknown. Light wasn't so confident. She warily stepped in, feeling for the hilt of her knife just as a force collided with her legs. The knife went flying. There was a sharp sting at her thigh, painful enough that the creature must have drawn blood.

She was in the process of tearing it off her when the lights blinked on. It startled Light enough to drop the thing with a solid thud.

It was a small child, maybe two or three, with wide blood-red eyes and hollow, dirty cheeks. Their hair was long and matted, their clothes far too big for their scrawny frame.

"What'd you bring with you, Kai?" a soft, lilting voice asked.

Light looked around the room, searching. It took her a moment to find the little girl standing in a doorway, hair tangled into something resembling a nest. This one was almost the same age as Light's younger sister. Her heart twisted as the thought of what had once been _home._

"Food?" the smaller creature asked hopefully.

"Not food," Blue replied wearily. "Windows covered?"

"Yeah, but you were late," she sounded accusing. Light idly wondered if the little girl was angry or scared. There was no place for fear; Light could teach her that. "What'd you bring home with you?"

Oh, this was her cue. Despite how tired she was, Light smiled brightly at the girl. It was just a little too wide to be considered a _nice_ smile. "Name's Light. And if you try to eat me, I'll skewer you to the wall and leave you for the ghoul hunters."

The child tilted on the balls of her bare feet as if ready to run before glancing at Blue and leaning against the wall casually. Good thing she didn't run. Light was in no mood for a chase. "You're Japanese is terrible," the little girl finally decided. "So what _are_ you?"

Suddenly, she had the urge to laugh and so she did. She wasn't sure why, except that the little girl's question was odd and she wanted to laugh. "You mean to ask where I'm from, but I'm not telling!" she stuck her tongue out at the little girl in a gesture Mother would consider unladylike. "My name's English. Light. Can you say it with me? Liiiiight."

The little girl repeated it dutifully, looking at her like one might a chicken in the middle of a shopping complex. "I'm Yui. That's Haru. And I guess you know Big Brother."

"Not food?" Haru sounded close to crying.

"I'm a friend. Not food." She gave the kid what was supposed to be a sympathetic look, but it came out feral. "I'm hungry, too."

"Kai, you said…"

He growled. "That snot-nosed ginger got me good. I had food, but I lost it."

"Anteiku…"

"We've already been to them this month."

The little girl left the safety the doorway to poke Blue in the chest. "And they didn't give us enough! One leg for the three of us! We're going to starve, Kai."

He looked helplessly at Light, but there was no way _she_ was going to help him again. He'd have to prove himself if she was going to do anything else for him.

"Get some rest, kids. Blue will go out hunting in the morning and bring us back something tasty. Won't you?" her eyes danced dangerously and he could only nod.

"Blue? Is that his nickname?" the little girl cocked her head. "Just so you know, Kai doesn't kill. None of us kill."

"Who said anything about killing?" Light asked. "Where do you sleep anyways?"

Yui led her into a back room with five sad-looking mattresses clustered together, blankets piled on three of them. "We have more blankets in the closet," Yui said and scrambled for the extra blankets.

Light pushed a mattress into a corner, as far from the other three as humanly possible and took the thin blanket proffered her.

She watched as Blue took the two kids through a bedtime routine, helping them change clothes and brush their teeth. He made sure they each drank a cup of water before having them lay down and reading them a bedtime story.

Light would never admit it, but she listened to the story until she was rocked to sleep.

* * *

It felt like seconds later, her eyes were unsticking and a knife hilt was in her hand.

"Woah!" Blue nearly shouted before remembering the two sleeping angels behind him. "Just letting you know I'm going out to hunt and then I have work. Chill dude."

Light leveled him with a glare. "You got any other clothes?"

"What do you mean?"

"I gave you my last pair. Can I borrow some?"

"I don't have anything that'll fit you. _Those_ don't fit you."

"What's the other bed for?"

Blue dragged her out of the room rather unceremoniously. The only thing that kept him from getting stabbed was the muttered apology and the quick way he let go of her once they were out of the room.

"Listen, we're a ragtag group. We've had people come and go. Some people die."

"So they died. Got it. You got any clothes from them?"

"They were _girls._ "

"Let me see what you got."

And that was how he discovered that Light maybe wasn't a young man. At least, Light thought he was conflicted over the issue. He looked like he couldn't decide what her gender was anymore. Androgynous. Not a bad trait to have when on the run, she supposed.

She flounced around in the fluffy skirt and mismatched shirt she'd been given. He had a dark expression on his face, but she really didn't know what his problem was. Sure, it definitely wasn't a school uniform. It was kinda nice to be in street clothes again. Except now it might be harder to blend in. A small child out and about, obviously not ready for school. That was suspicious.

"Thanks. Skirts are better for weapons." And they were. She could hide a whole bunch more knives in the knee-length skirt.

"Sure," he muttered. "I'm going now."

"What Yui said about you not killing. Is that true?"

"I do what I have to. They don't need to know everything."

"Mm. Happy hunting."

* * *

Kai left feeling confused. That was the sanest conversation he'd had with him, her, _them_. Whatever Light was. It didn't make sense. How could their personality be so volatile? They were worse than Haru.

And how old were they anyways?

Why he'd left them alone with his two charges was anyone's guess. He didn't trust them, but he did know that killing two children was far below their priority list.

Finding their brother on the other hand. Well, that was number one.

Now he had to go and fulfill his own priorities. He had to find something that his charges could eat. Killing, well that would have to be his modus operandi for a bit.

As Kai descended the concrete staircase, he couldn't have known that his encounter with the strange ghoul would set the stage for a tragedy worthy of the greats. He only knew that he needed to get food, get to work, and then get back home in a timely manner. It was the only way he'd ever be able to get those kids out of that hole and give them a normal life. At least, normal for a ghoul.

And so he began his hunt.

 **So, with COVID-19 I am officially out of school for the rest of the year. Job hunt in progress. *fingers crossed I can find a writing job* Meanwhile, I may be able to find enough inspiration to write the rest of this fanfiction. I have had big plans for this fanfiction for years, but I can never seem to bring them to fruition. I know what I want in the long game. Now its just getting there. Please stay safe during this whole epidemic and take of yourselves!**


	8. Chapter 8: Raise the Stakes

"Good afternoon, Madam Ripken." Madam Ripken nodded regally at the two men in black suits. Their dark shades glinted in the sun, revealing nothing of their true feelings.

"I assume you both are with the CCG?" it was a casual reference, but it would determine her next steps.

"The Japanese Government, ma'am," one of the men replied.

The other pulled out a notepad and added, "You have been authorized to have four ghouls in accompaniment. Mr. Rodrigo Ruiz-Estrada, Ms. Arabella Ruiz-Estrada, Ms. Castilla Ruiz-Estrada, and Mrs. Bailey King."

"Yes," she gave both men a smile that was too pointed to be sweet. It made them squirm, if only slightly. "They are going through security now. I assume they will be treated with the utmost care. We wouldn't want the AAG or the U.S. government to take offense, now would we?"

Both men shook their heads. "It is just protocol ma'am. It appears that they have all been cleared."

And, indeed, they had. All four ghouls made their way to where Madam Ripken was waiting. Both government men took a step back, caution winning over pride.

"Hello," the two smaller of the four stepped forward.

They looked innocent with their matching soft pink dresses. Shiny silk ribbons hung down past their shoulders, tying back red ringlets. Their smiles weren't creepy per say, but their eyes, a shade darker than ice, were downright eerie.

"I assume that we will be speaking with the head of international security when we arrive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" the only man in the group, Mr. Ruiz-Estrada, asked. One of the suited men chose to continue staring the twins down while the other turned his attention to the man. They were all in over their heads. They really should have notified the CCG.

"O-of course. The car will be ready shortly. Is there anything we can do for you for the time being?"

Madam Ripken stepped beside the two men. "Yes. Could you make sure the secretary gets these when we arrive? I've already sent in a digital copy, but the matter really is rather… urgent."

She passed the men a thick stack of papers, each declaring in Japanese 'WANTED BY THE GIB AND THE FBI'. They really didn't get paid enough for this.

"This is her!" Akira shoved a document in Amon's face. He barely had the presence of mind to catch it before it fell, peering over the offending document so that he could continue with his own paperwork. Or, more like, continue searching the files of the elusive Eyepatch.

Akira made a noise in her throat before slamming her fist down on the desk. "Amon, look!"

He blinked blearily, taking a sip of coffee and peering at the paper. A little girl with straight white hair trussed up in bows smiled sweetly back at him. One eye was covered in a bright pink eyepatch with crossbones. He almost spit his coffee out, but refrained with a tremendous cough.

Hikari Ripken.

15 years old.

He set his coffee down roughly, some of it splashing on the report he'd been working on. Amon scowled, but not at the ruined papers. He was more concerned with the picture of the girl. It wasn't… It couldn't be… Amon's gaze darted to the 15 and back to the picture. It _had_ to be. But there was _no way_ she was fifteen years old.

He mouthed the numbers to himself, staring at her image the way he'd stared at the English alphabet in the Academy. Amon never was good at reading the letters- they might as well have been Russian- but he'd had a knack for pronunciation.

He couldn't connect the two personas together. He refused. That little girl in the alley wasn't even out of grade school. She couldn't even use her kagune!

"Where'd you find this?"

"Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent it out this morning. I have a contact; said the U.S. has people this side looking for the girl."

He gritted his teeth. Great. Just great! Now that MOFA was involved, they'd never get ahold of her!

The CCG should already have had her in custody. She was an unaccompanied minor, 15 years old or not. How had one girl slipped so easily from their grasp?

Suddenly, the rest of Akira's sentence registered. "Our government is actually _cooperating_ with the Americans?" When had the Japanese government ever willingly worked with the American government on anything?

"I don't understand it. You know the American government wouldn't give us the same courtesy. She knows too much to just have arrived."

"What does she know?"

Akira glared in a way that told Amon he'd just run out of Q bullets.

Amon quickly looked down at the image again- anything but at Akira- and found that there were charges underneath. "Have you read this? _Genocide_? What does that even mean? Twenty people at once. I wouldn't think that would be too difficult for a particularly suicidal ghoul in Tokyo. How can those Americans think ghouls are human when they do things like this? They are what's wrong with this world. And what's this about an executioner?" Amon looked vaguely green. "We're in way over our heads. We've got to take this to the Chairman."

* * *

"What happened to your eye?"

Yui sat crisscross in front of Light, watching her pull a needle and thread through a very white sock.

"What happened to your mom and dad?" Light replied easily.

Yui quieted for a minute, slouching in on herself. She popped up just as suddenly.

"What's it like where you're from?"

Light stuck her tongue out in concentration. The girl definitely didn't have her brother's stupid streak. She knew how to ask safer questions, smarter questions. "Well, no one hides there. Ghouls are ghouls. They have rights and citizenship. There's even one running for president this term I think."

"For president?" Yui bounced happily. "Does that mean one day I can run for prime minister?"

Light looked up at the little girl, tongue still between teeth. "Sure you can. But you gotta learn how to play the game first. You wanna live long enough to be prime minister, right?" Her eyes darted to the sock, a giggle bubbling up as she finally tied off her masterpiece. "Whatcha think, Yui?"

The little girl barely kept herself from eating the sock as Light shoved it directly in Yui's face. Light leaned forward on her knees, watching Yui inspect the threaded figure. Her expression wasn't hard to read, but Light didn't take offense. Honestly, Light wasn't sure whether it was a cow or a very fat cat either.

"Ah, I know. Still not right. Can't rush beauty, though. That's what Mother always says." Light took back her sock and tucked the thread away in her bag. "So, what do you say about a game? It's called survival and I'll teach ya the rules. Promise."

* * *

When Kai got home, he was greeted with a rush of bodies. One was much more bruised and bloodied than when he'd left her.

"Light," he growled. "You promised…"

"I'm learning how to survive so I can be prime minister," Yui crowed. She got ahold of his backpack and pulled it open eagerly.

Inside were half a dozen Tupperware containers full of browned meat.

She tore into the first eagerly, kakugan winking into existence.

Haru let out a feral noise and pounced on another container, pudgy fingers making quick work of the lid.

Kai dug silverware from his backpack before he sat down. He passed Light a container and a fork. Once they'd cracked open theirs, he dug into his own.

It was even better than the alcoholic Light had caught him yesterday. Technically, he didn't really need the meat today, but he wanted to be ready. If the ginger caught him unawares, he needed the strength. And that was what food was- it was strength.

He had to be strong for Yui and Haru. If he wasn't, they might end up like Emi.

And that was unacceptable

"You know, when I'm prime minister I…"

Kai gritted his teeth. She was so happy, but ghouls couldn't be anything. He didn't care what lies Light had told her; they _weren't_ true. If Yui were to try and run for prime minister, she'd be dead before she could debate her first primary. "Ghouls can't…"

Light jabbed him with a fork, halting his words. Although the tines weren't strong enough to break skin, he could imagine the knives (because he had no doubt there were multiple) hidden across their person. Even though they were too young to produce a kagune, they were certainly astute enough to defend themselves.

Yui continued her rambling, unware of the silent struggle transpiring. "I'm going to make Tokyo like where Light's from. Ghouls don't have to hide there. We'll be able to go to school and get cool jobs and we won't starve because we take the moral high ground. They have meat shops that sell everything, including hom- hom- what was the word again?"

"Homo sapiens," Light replied. "That's what those with a low RC count are called. Those with a high RC count are called homo rubicundus. Both are man, just different types. People back west still call them ghouls though. Hard habit to break, I guess."

How did they know all this? At times, they acted like a small child and then others they acted like a university student.

Light took a final bite of the food and then popped up on both feet. "Now that you're home, we can play a game! It's called 'follow the leader'. You're the leader and you're going to take me to Helter Skelter. Yes?"

Kai paled. And there was the child again. Bossy. Demanding. Terrifying if their whims weren't met. "I just got home. Can't it wait until Thursday? I'm off then."

"By Thursday I might not have a Big Brother anymore. You're the leader." They pulled out a knife, brandishing it like it was a sword. "Now lead!"

He stood up slowly, gathering all of the empty tins and placing them in the sink. He took the other tins of meat and put them on the highest shelf in the fridge. Yui knew better, but Haru didn't. He might get into them and eat them all.

Once he was done, he turned to Light and his two charges. "Where did you say you wanted to go?"

"Helter. Skelter." The glint of eyes told him that Light's volatile personality had definitely flipped. Whatever reasonable person he'd been dealing with was no longer.

"That's in another ward! It'd take the rest of the day to get there and I'm not even really sure where it is. Could be 21st or 22nd? Actually, maybe it's near the mask shop? That's the 4th ward. Hey, don't look at me like that!" their expression was darkening into something sharp enough to kill. "I've never been. I've only heard of it!"

Abruptly, Light threw their head back and laughed. "And the game gets even better! Hide-n-Go-Seek. Follow the Leader. And now Hidden Places! Guess we'll have to find someone who does," they grinned. "Kids, stay here 'til we get back."

"But… I wanna go with you!" Yui cried.

Haru made a noise in the back of his throat. "No!"

Light leveled both kids with a look that scared them silent. Neither moved as their mouth stretched almost unnaturally upwards. "We won't be gone long. ~I promise~."

Oh, boy. What had he gotten himself into?

* * *

Light had pinned three ghouls down in the past half hour, two figuratively and one literally. No one knew where Helter Skelter was. She felt frustration mounting as the game wore on for far too long. The reason Blue had been kept alive was to help her find Helter Skelter and he couldn't even do that right.

"Why didn't you go looking while I was at work?" he asked after she emerged from a particularly gruesome temper tantrum. The unfortunate ghoul was almost in pieces across the alley, held together by mere willpower. It, of course, wouldn't kill him. Almost nothing could kill a ghoul if inflicted only once.

She stared at the smattering of blood across her wrist with keen interest before licking it off. Bitter like coffee. A ghoul's blood was much better than a ghoul's flesh. "Why?" she asked idly. "Because I thought you were smart enough to know where it was. I had a day's head start yesterday, but now I'm outta luck. I can't just go traipsing down the streets, even with my disguise. _They'll_ be looking for me."

Light began walking, keeping to the shadows and taking turns to go further and further into the backstreets of the 20th Ward. She did a cartwheel and then a backhand spring just because.

The boy whimpered behind her, pitiful. "Who's looking for you? Aren't we traipsing now? I mean, literally. You're doing stunts in the middle of an alley."

Light chuckled without really feeling it. He was such an annoying pet. Too bad she couldn't take him to the pound- or eat him. This was why she usually played alone. Actually, eating him sounded like a good idea. She picked at her finger nail. "Want to play body parts?"

"No!" he took a few steps away from her for good measure. Good. He was a smart pet after all. Even if he wasn't smart, she couldn't really kill him. At least not now. He was still moderately useful. Even as she thought it, his big trap made her rethink that. "You've already done that with that bloke. No need to add to the count."

She let out a long-suffering sigh. "I don't play well with others. _They_ won't be looking for two."

"Why can't we just ask the old man at Anteiku? He's got information on almost everyone if you know how to ask right. Creepy and a bit stingy. But he'd be the right one to ask."

She arched an eyebrow. "He'd want to know why."

"I want to know why!"

She would have hit him for his insolence if it were not for the faint scent of another ghoul drifting towards them. Blue stiffened immediately.

"It's the ginger. He'll eat you for breakfast- territorial prat. Let's get out of here."

Light scowled. He was just trying to get them to give up their mission. He must not like playing games. Oh, she'd show him!

"Leave me alone!" Light suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs. Warm tears pooled in her eyes as she backed away from Blue.

"What are you-"

"Mummy! Help! Please! Please!"

She made a liberal cut in her arm and then screamed, falling backwards and bashing her head against the brick wall. Oh, too much acting maybe. There were stars floating in the distance. One, two, three shiny specks shooting closer and closer. At least her charade worked.

She heard sneakers pounding against pavement and a low growl. "What do ya think you're doing? Hunting in my territory _again_? I shoulda killed you the first time."

Light whimpered, drawing attention away from Blue. Ginger may have been too strong a word for the boy's hair. It was lighter, almost brown except for the coppery tinge. She honed in on the square glasses.

 _Liability_. If they weren't for show, shoving them into his face would be the first step. Glasses- as he was now called- shoved Blue out of the way, long kagune swaying behind him.

Bikaku. Strong. Well-matched with Blue's. Huh. Not bad.

"Help me!" she ran to Glasses, grabbing on to his waist with all she had. A knife wriggled its way into her palm.

"What _is_ this? Get off me, you idiot." She felt his kagune trace along her back, seconds from piercing her. She prepared to cut into him... Until he suddenly stilled, swinging his kagune away. "Going after ghoul kids, now? How desperate are you? That's shameless."

His hands went to her hair, hesitant. He didn't have any kids of his own obviously. But he had a soft spot for them. She could use this to her advantage. Instead of torture, she'd take a page out of the book on conning people. A lady always knows how to get what she wants. And honey always attracts flies.

"I-" Blue tried to take up for himself, but it was obvious to Light that the boy was terrified. Glasses must have done a number on Blue the last time they'd met.

Light whimpered, burying her face into the soft t-shirt. She was admittedly disappointed when Glasses did not in fact beat Blue within an inch of his life. Instead, he said, "Get outta here before I give you worse than last time."

Blue didn't have to be told twice. He was out of the alley in an instant. Traitor. She'd teach him a lesson on leaving her to the wolves when she got home. Because, whether Blue liked it or not, that dinky apartment was now home base. At the very least, she had to go back so Yui could learn to defend herself. Blue obviously couldn't teach her. He could barely defend himself.

"Are you hurt?" Glasses bent down to inspect the gash that was repairing itself quite slowly. Still not enough RC cells in her system. The shot yesterday must've been particularly strong.

"I'm… fine…" she sniffed, making a show of reigning in her tears.

Glasses cast an angry glance at the place where Blue was. "Listen. Do you need any help? Who are you staying with?"

"I-I'm on my own," she admitted. "M-mummy told me to go to Helter Skelter if she didn't come back. But I don't- I'm not sure where that is. D-do you know?"

"Helter Skelter. That's a bar. I don't think Itori would even let you in, kid. You'd be better off going to Anteiku. The manager there's not too big a jerk."

He knew where it was then. Thank God this embarrassing display wasn't for nothing.

She sniffled. "Please, Itori will know where my mommy is. Can you tell me which ward it's in?"

"Listen kid. I've never been there myself. I know it's in 14th ward."

"Please."

He looked at her, eyebrows bunched angrily, before hissing through his teeth. "Alright, alright. Don't say I didn't warn ya kid. C'mon. I have work in the morning, so this better be quick."

 **And after much deliberation here is what I got folks. Everything making sense so far? I've been plotting but I haven't really gotten the fine details filled in.**


	9. Chapter 9: Director's Cue

**They muddy the water to make it seem deep. -Friedrich Nietsche**

Light happily clung to Glasses' back as they stood in the metro, waiting for the next train. She could almost fool herself into thinking he was Arabella. But he was much stiffer than Arabella, obviously unused to carrying anyone piggyback. It was strange, really. Why was he so kind to her when he didn't have any children of his own? A question to observe later, if she really felt like philosophizing.

"What kind of stupid name is Light anyways?" if it weren't for his words, he might have been conversational. "It's what- English? Is that why your Japanese is so bad?"

She tensed, but then ruffled his hair. Unlike with the older woman, this boy wouldn't go down quickly. The headlines would be phenomenal: Child Ghoul Takes Down Adult Ghoul in Metro. Unfortunately, those headlines would draw Mother's attention to her location. Attention was the last thing she needed right now.

She was so close to her brother, she could taste it. Pride, as Mother had taught her, was the hardest sacrifice to make. But it was the most necessary. That was the difference between average and truly great people. Truly great people would sacrifice everything for what they wanted.

She scowled at the tin can of death as Glasses shoved his way through its tiny doors. A few people banged into her knees and back; she returned the favor with vicious satisfaction. Glasses made a great platform to slam her trainers into unsuspecting victims. They'd look at her and shake their heads. She hadn't done lasting damage and she was so little. _Kids these days._

As the train began moving, her amusement turned to disgust. Ugh, it smelled like none of the cattle had taken a bath in weeks. They were packed like meat in a fridge, except it needed to be about 1000 degrees colder so they'd actually die.

"Stupid cattle," she muttered, tightening her hold on Glasses. She wasn't going to let go of her height and kicking advantage for nothing. Plus, it was an advantage if he turned on her.

"What was that?" Glasses asked.

"Trains just aren't as cool as on TV," she sulked. An understatement if there ever was one. "I always wanted to be a train driver. But now I hate the metro."

He chuckled before growing serious. "Where will you go if Itori can't take you to your mom?"

She completely ignored his somber tone. "She'll know. If not, I'll find him myself."

"Her," Glasses corrected. "You used the wrong pronoun. Man, your Japanese really is terrible… Ow!"

Light slapped him on the back of the head, although not as hard as she could have. She knew what she meant, even if the boy was too stupid to figure it out.

It wasn't her fault if he couldn't spot a con.

They finally emerged from the death machine into the red light district. The flashing signs of women and booze were familiar in a way that ached. They walked a ways until the boy prodded her off his back.

Light huffed, sticking her tongue out at him. He sped up his pace to a brisk walk. She practically ran like a dog to keep up. Complaints (and maybe a dagger) were at her fingertips when Glasses suddenly disappeared into an alley.

Light was quick to follow. At the end of Glasses' clenched fist was a small twig with two very black sclera. Light flashed a brilliant smile. Glasses was definitely her kind of guy.

"W-what do you want?"

"Where's Helter Skelter?"

The twig gulped. "Down the street, across from the red building. Look, I don't want any trouble man."

Light flexed her wrists, severing the twig's right hand neatly. Glasses threw the one-handed twig down. "Get down kid." His kagune flared in preparation for an attack, eyes darting warily to the rooftops. Light obediently bent down, but only to pick up the hand as it rolled towards her. She tapped her knife against it, watching a thin bead of red trail down the dark skin.

"Whatcha looking for?" she wondered as she carved a heart in the flesh.

"We're under attack. Have a little more-" Glass' finally noticed what was in Light's hand and scowled. Meeting Glass' eyes, she slowly licked the hand clean. The look on his face was priceless.

"W- It was _you._ What's wrong with you? Why would you do that?" he finally managed to sputter. He was practically quivering from rage.

"He didn't need both of them," she shrugged, gnawing idly at it. Ghoul meat tasted terrible on principal, but she liked the blood. It was rich with just a hint of bitterness, nothing like the fatty stuff that existed in humans. This was like chocolate compared to vegetables, she supposed.

Glass' arched an eyebrow, but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "You'll make a scene carrying that around. Hey- why are your eyes…"

"The most beautiful color you've ever seen? Genetics, darling." She licked the stump of a hand once more, savoring the taste, before tossing it to the twig. A dart of a tongue and any blood was gone. Impeccable. It would make mother proud. "C'mon. Let's get to Helter Skelter. I have to speak with Itori. Chop, chop."

She ignored the bewildered look on his face, although she knew it well. Everyone, even the twins, had given her that look at least once. The one that told her she wasn't all the way there. She was broken, a Frankenstein of a human being pieced together with so many different personalities. The question was which was the act and which was Light?

She didn't know.

* * *

"The CCG reported a child ghoul by the name of Suzy Adachi entering Japan yesterday." A young woman in a sharp suit passed Madam Ripken a file to examine. "She is called the 'White Dove'. There are no images, but the physical description seems a close match to your Hikari Ripken."

Madam Ripken browsed the two thin sheets of paper, looking quite nonplussed. "I'm not surprised they couldn't catch her. She's been well trained. The investigators, Mado and Koutarou- could I send someone from my team to meet them?"

"O-of course, Madam Ripken. It might take some time. The CCG doesn't-"

"Great. Mrs. King, write this down." There was a hurried flip of a paper and then frantic scribbling as it kept pace with Madam Ripken's orders. "We're sending the twins. They would find it… educational. Give them a security detail. I wouldn't want any accidents to happen. Make sure this gets done within the day. The longer she's on the ground, the harder it will be to find her. As for me, I am going to pay a person of interest a visit. Mr. Ruiz-Estrada is going to meet with another person of interest. Take care of the twins in our absence. Thank you darling."

The woman stiffened, her face slowly reddening. "Now, Madam Ripken. We haven't approved any of this. The nerve- to let ghouls into Tokyo unsupervised!"

"Thank you for offering the security detail. It will be most useful. I'll be expecting our guards in the foyer."

Before the woman- whose name had completely slipped Madam Ripken's mind- could get a word in edgewise, she was out the door with a flustered assistant behind her.

The woman groaned, slamming a fist on her desk. She pushed the intercom button with her other hand. "Manami? Send six guards to the foyer. Two for the children, two for Madam Ripken, and two for Mr. Ruiz-Estrada. Tell them it's their necks if they screw this up. Thank you."

* * *

The exterior of Helter Skelter was unassuming. A derelict building left to the elements, it practically blended into the background. Light's heart thrummed like an electric chair, electricity zinging through her blood. She could barely keep from bouncing up and down.

The ginger was right behind her, much to her frustration.

"T-thanks," she barely remembered to keep her voice timid. Easily manipulated. "I think I'll be okay by myself. Itori knows my mom."

The ginger looked at her skeptically. "I need something stiff anyways after a night like this, kid. I don't care what you and Itori talk about. Just get through the door."

It didn't seem like a terrible request, and she had bigger fish to fry. Big Brother. She was seconds away from finding Big Brother.

Light burst through the door, making a beeline for the bar. Three other ghouls were arranged around it, drowning in the rich red of blood. Fermented, by the strong smell. A heady aroma that she would not indulge in. She was a terrible drunk.

It would get her and her brother caught faster than she could pull a knife.

"No kids allowed," a rather attractive barwoman barely looked at her as she cleaned a glass. And then the woman actually looked at her.

"Kaneki?" she examined Light's top-half before shaking her head. "Man, kid, you look just like him. You had me there for a minute. But that blouse. I can't imagine how anyone would get Kaneki into it," she snickered. "Looks good on you, though. How old are you? Bar's 16 and up."

"Isn't the drinking age 20 in Japan?"

The woman winked.

Light felt the urge to go absolutely wild. She could take out all three customers with a single motion. Three syringes and it'd be done. They wouldn't be a threat any longer. Another motion and the barwoman would be at her mercy, knife digging into pale flesh. She'd sing then. Tell her everything Light wanted to know.

Instead, with a well-practiced breath, ice settled in her chest. Cool, controlled. She knew how to be in control, even if she were a bit rusty at it. As the frigidness spread through her body, a very different grin stretched across her face. This was Mother's favorite smile, the one that said she was in charge and everyone else better listen up.

Light leveraged herself on the chair, tips of her toes gripping the cracked leather seat to give her a taller appearance. She leaned forward on her elbows, shoving a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm here for Itori. I have a trade to make."

"You're in luck, kid. I'm Itori," the woman leaned back, stretching to grab a wine bottle. She poured herself a glass, swirling it around lazily. Her attention was fixed completely on Light. She was interested. That was good. She might be able to get what she wanted then.

Until, the snick of the door drew her attention to someone behind Light. "Uta!" The woman leapt over the bar and tackled the new customer.

Light felt annoyance ping at the control she'd worked to build; it was never good to annoy Light.

"Uta! This kid's looking for a trade! Youngest one yet!"

Light could feel the boy with tattoos sizing her up. Poser. He looked tough, but she'd cut up bigger dudes than him. She gave him a feral grin, the coldness loosening before snapping back tight. In control. Bullying people for information was not how she'd get to Big Brother. Torture made liars of everyone. She knew that all too well. And she didn't have time to chase dead ends. Especially if Mother was already here.

For once, her mouth turned into a frown as she said, "I would like a little privacy for the trade, if it's all the same to you. Sensitive information and all that."

The girl tapped her fingers on her chin. "What makes you think you have something I don't already know?"

Light shrugged. "Guess you'll have to find out."

Itori grinned. "I like you. Uta, you're on for bar duty. Think you can handle the riffraff while I take a break?"

He looked mildly affronted. "I came for a chat. Not work."

"Well, barman. You have access to my finest vintage. We'll talk in a bit. Tah."

She swept Light off the stool and into a backroom. It was dim and musty, cluttered with bottles and apparatuses. Two metal doors were clustered in a corner. One had to be an exit and the other the freezer. Fresh blood was hard to come by, after all. "Talk, kid. He'll drink me under the table."

Light flounced to a crate and perched on it primly. "I want information on Kaneki Ken. He's human. What's he got to do with ghouls?"

Itori tutted, hand on one hip. "Your information first, kid. And then you can make demands. Kaneki-kun comes with a high price."

Light felt her eye twitch, but she'd been prepared for this. If this girl wanted information, she had it in spades. Being the daughter of the AAG's director had its perks, after all. "There's a new ghoul organization in Tokyo."

It was obvious she'd caught the girl's interest. Her laissez-faire attitude dropped in an instant. She pulled up a worn chair, eyes locked on Light. Information was her weakness.

"I'll tell you more if you tell me about Kaneki. Where can I find him?"

"There's this legend in the ghoul community," Itori began.

"I'm not three. I don't want a bedtime story. I want Kaneki."

Itori scowled. "I'll give you what you want if you shut up and listen."

Light tensed, grinding her teeth to keep from spitting something she'd regret. Or, better yet, throwing something she'd regret. No one told her to shut up. The knife was so close… But, no. She'd already committed to this path, the higher path. One move and she might lose her lead.

"Like I said," Itori recommenced, twirling her hair idly. "There's this legend about a human and a ghoul falling in love. One thing led to another and the human got pregnant. What do you think their child was?"

Light rolled her eyes. "Well, according to our biology class, that would result in a mutation creating a hybrid that has only been seen twice in this generation- at least in the United States. It's hard for human women to carry such a child to term. They are marked by their eyes-"

Itori covered one of her eyes, a wry smile gracing her face. "One human eye and one ghoul eye. A natural hybrid. Our Kaneki-kun is like them."

"He's a ghoul," Light felt something like VapoRub burn across her chest. It _hurt._ He was supposed to be human. Human.

Not… Not like…

"Yes. If you'd like to find him, I'm going to need more details from you."

Light gave a long-suffering sigh before flopping on her stomach. She wouldn't be able to give these details while she was sitting up. She hated talking about _them._ "The ghouls are with a group called the American Association for Ghouls or AAG. If they haven't arrived today, they'll be here tomorrow. There will be at least four of them. The director, her assistant, the associate director, and one or two high level associates. The director's human, but don't let that fool you. She's the most vicious of them all. They'll be in league with the police and the CCG. Your best bet is not to get in their way."

"Why are they in Tokyo?"

"They're looking for a girl. Her name's Hikari Ripken. And they won't stop until they get her."

"Lot of trouble for one girl."

"She was the director's daughter. A weapon."

"You know her, kid?" Itori gave her a sympathetic look. "A friend? What did she do?"

Light grimaced. "She told a lie... Just tell me where Big B- where Kaneki Ken is."

Itori had the grace to look sheepish when she admitted. "I can't tell you exactly where he is." Before Light could get her knife out- because screw doing it without torture if Itori dared lie to her- Itori was backpedaling. "But I know where he will be."

And that was what mattered.

Light breezed past the bar, giggling as she let herself into the cool night. There were few street lamps in this part of the district, but that just made her journey more fun. The ginger was following her now, probably to make sure she actually made it back to her 'mother'.

She ignored him until they both boarded the same train. It was empty, mercifully, save for an older man with overly-large headphones covering his ears and a newspaper spread across his lap.

"~Wanna play?~" she asked. He barely moved out of the way before the knife dug itself into the upholstery. The older man didn't even flinch.

"Did you find your mother?"

Light shrugged. "I don't wanna play twenty questions. I like Hungry Hippos. I don't have any meat, so I can feed you my knife instead."

He had the grace to look a bit freaked out. "What is wrong with you?"

"Stop following me or you'll find out."

Even though it wasn't her stop, she stepped off the train just so she could add effect. It caused her to have to walk a whole three hours to the tiny apartment, but it also gave her time to think.

She had to come up with a plan in order to get to Kaneki. The operation sounded like a big deal, and there would be all sorts there to ruin her plans.

Potentially Mother on top of everyone else.

If Mother linked Kaneki with the ghouls, it would be one more step before she was following the same trail as Light. Light had a whole week before the mission could be implemented. She had no clue where Mother would be by then.

And there was the whole question of Big Brother. How on earth had he managed the impossible? Mother had been trying to splice and dice for years with no results. The best of both humans and ghouls. A super race made to go beyond both of them. The future.

Light shook her head, parkouring off a trashcan and brick wall before flipping over and doing a handstand on a grate. She needed to keep her body limber if she wanted to make it out of this alive and free.

Well, freer maybe. Ghouls in Tokyo were not free. The shabby apartment block loomed over her, reminding her of this simple fact. On the top floor were two children who had never been to school. They hardly went outside for fear of the CCG. They were trapped tighter than a bird in a cage, watching as life passed them by.

At least in Tokyo the birds weren't being electrocuted to see if they would sing.

"I'm home!" she screamed as she barreled through the door. She barely avoided the shards from Blue's kagune. He was a lot faster; the meat had done him good.

"Wha- Ugh," the sleepy voice of Blue groaned. "Light. The kids are sleeping. Why are you even here?"

Light lowered her voice to a whisper. "I'm home!"

"You almost got me killed in that alley. You seemed perfectly content to go with the ginger. Why are you here?"

Light put a hurt expression on her face. "You're not happy to see me? I was _acting_ in the alley. Like I would willing go with him. You owe me; I'm much safer in your bumbling hands. But he knew where Helter Skelter was-" kind of "-and I followed him there."

"So now you know where your Big Brother is?" he yawned, his kagune pulsing before finally dissolving.

"Kind of. I have to stay with you until Saturday. That's the day he'll be at the place."

Blue looked suspicious. "What place exactly?"

"Nunya!" she stuck her tongue at him.

"You're lucky I don't work tomorrow." He rubbed his eyes and turned back to the bedroom. He called over his shoulder, "Go to bed."

Light gave him a dark look. "I'm not four."

"How old are you anyways?"

"Oh, Blue, I didn't know the kiss meant that much."

Blue's hand faltered on the door. "I-"

"Good night!" she darted past him and piled into her self-appointed bed. The faster she got to sleep, the faster Saturday would come. And she'd be ready.

 **Okay, so we are making progress. Our non-hero is making her way to Kaneki, slowly but surely. Nothing could possibly go wrong...**


End file.
